Volcano Quest
by Qille
Summary: Sequel/companion piece to Dead by Dawn. Hiccup is sent on a Quest to find the mysterious Fire Diamond and stop the volcano on Dragon Island from erupting. The only problem: he's racing against his cousin, Snotlout. Not related to the fifth book at all!
1. Berk turned Gray

_A/N: Let us begin the Quest to the Volcano! Oh, and let me just say that I'm STOKED to be writing the sequel to Dead by Dawn. But y'know, you don't have to read Dead by Dawn before reading this. I think this is kinda like a little side story. I think this story would be classified as the "calm before the storm" type, or the happy before the extremely dark. Interpret that however you see fit._

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><p><strong>Volcano Quest<strong>

"This had better be important, Toothless," grumbled Hiccup, wiping dragon slobber off of his face as he sat up in bed.

"Trust me, I think it's pretty important!" exclaimed Toothless, looking extremely nervous.

"What is it?" asked Hiccup sleepily, fumbling to attach his prosthesis to the lower half of his left leg.

"C'mon, I'll show you!" Instead of waiting for Hiccup to stand up and walk on his own, Toothless picked up the youth by the back of his shirt and carried him out the door.

"Toothless!" exclaimed Hiccup, squirming around and kicking the air. "Put me down you giant reptile!"

Toothless ignored Hiccup and padded out the door. Once he stepped outside, he dropped Hiccup.

Hiccup stood up and brushed himself off, trying to look as dignified as possible after being manhandled by a reptile. "What do you wanna show me?"

"Look around," said Toothless.

Hiccup turned... and his jaw dropped. The entire village of Berk had been turned gray, covered in ash and soot. There were still particles of soot floating down from the black clouds above, making it difficult to breathe. Almost every single inhabitant of Berk were slowly trudging towards the Great Hall, having difficulty walking in the almost knee-deep pyroclastic material.

"What the..." muttered Hiccup, looking around.

"Hiccup!" someone called. Hiccup looked around and found Camicazi at the bottom of the hill, standing next to Stormfly.

Hiccup stumbled down the hill, with Toothless in hot pursuit.

"Camicazi, what's going on?" asked Hiccup.

"I thought you would know," said Camicazi. "You're the son of the chief after all..."

"I was unconscious," muttered Hiccup, glaring at Toothless, who smiled his innocent gummy smile.

"Well, your dad called a town meeting in the Great Hall," explained Camicazi. "I think the volcano's acting up."

"Dracona Fuego?" clarified Hiccup. Camicazi nodded. "But that thing hasn't erupted in like... ever!"

A small group of coughing dragons stumbled by, on their way to the Great Hall, looking for refuge. One of them looked over and spotted the group.

"Gummy!" he shouted. Hiccup, Camicazi, Toothless, and Stormfly all turned to where the voice had come from.

"Snakebane? Is that you?" asked Hiccup. It would have been impossible to recognize Snakebane, because his purple scales were now gray with ash.

"Don't fall asleep outside when Dracona Fuego is angry," said a smaller female dragon, who was only lightly coated with what seemed to be _glowing_ ash. The glowing was, in reality, caused by her glowing Moondew scales underneath.

"Luna, your ash is glowing," smirked Toothless.

"Shut up..." she mumbled.

The only dragon that _wasn't_ a completely different color was the emerald green Drifter Dragon, who was called Flameheart by his human, but was called Drift by his friends.

"How come Drift isn't gray?" asked Camicazi, who had been following the conversation using her Night Fury/Mood Dragon scale necklace that let her understand Dragonese. It had been an early birthday present from Hiccup. He had given it to her around the end of June about a week and a half before her 15th birthday; it was now nearing the end of August.

"That's because," coughed Snakebane, "he's a wuss and he slept inside..." Snakebane went into another coughing fit, partly because of his asthma acting up in the poor quality air, and partly because the ash was aggravating his wounded lung.

"We should probably get inside," said Hiccup, walking towards the general direction of the Great Hall. The ash in the air also made it difficult to see.

As the group trudged on towards the Great Hall, Stormfly noticed that someone was missing. "Hey, where's Quiver?"

Everyone's eyes turned to Snakebane.

"Bottom of the ocean," he gasped out.

"What were you fighting about this time?" asked Toothless.

"We weren't fighting!" exclaimed Snakebane. "We were having a loud conversation about different types of poisons. She didn't believe me when I said I was poisonous."

"Snakebane, Monstrous Nightmares are only _slightly_ poisonous. And only their bite. It's still not enough to kill anything except kinda small animals," explained Hiccup. "You usually only use your venom as a defense... Geez, I'm starting to sound like Fishlegs..."

"I could go for a fish right now," muttered Toothless.

"Me too, I'm _starving_!" exclaimed Stormfly.

"Well maybe they'll have food in the- WHOA!" Hiccup hadn't been looking where he was going and he ran right into Snotlout.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" exclaimed Snotlout, standing up and putting his helmet back on his head.

"If you haven't noticed," coughed Hiccup, standing up and brushing himself off, "it's impossible to see three feet in front of your face!"

Snotlout looked like he was about to either start arguing or start a fight, but that was when he saw five dangerous dragons and a dangerous-looking Camicazi all staring him down. He would be outnumbered.

"We'll settle this later," growled Snotlout before stalking off.

"I _can't_ believe we're related..." muttered Hiccup. He coughed a bit as the ash started to get thicker. "C'mon guys, let's get outta here..."

By the time they reached the Great Hall, the dragons were dizzy, Hiccup and Camicazi had their shirt collars pulled over their mouth and noses, and Snakebane and Hiccup were on the verge of an asthma attack. They all slipped inside the door and quickly slammed it closed, trying not to let in any ash.

Being one of the last ones to make it, the group was squished at the back. Snakebane, Luna, and Drift all flew up to the rafters with the other dragons.

"Do you see my dad anywhere?" Hiccup asked Camicazi, trying to locate his father, which was difficult due to the fact that everyone else was seven feet tall, and Hiccup was barely five foot eight.

Suddenly, Hiccup felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and saw an old man with a cane and a four foot long beard.

"Grandpa!" exclaimed Hiccup, giving the man a hug.

"Nice to see ya again, Hiccup," said Old Wrinkly. He poked Hiccup in the ribs. "Still too thin, but good to see that you're all better."

"Thanks," muttered Hiccup. "Have you seen my dad?"

"He was actually looking for you. C'mon." Old Wrinkly grabbed Hiccup's arm and started to drag him through the crowd. Toothless, Camicazi, and Stormfly followed.

They found Stoick near the front of the crowd.

"Ah, Hiccup, there ya are," said Stoick.

"Dad, why didn't you wake me up this morning?" asked Hiccup.

"Well I tried," said Stoick, "but sometimes ya sleep like a Gronkle."

"Oh, thank you," said Hiccup sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Chief Stoick, do you know what's going on?" asked Camicazi.

"That's actually why I called this town meeting," said Stoick, gesturing to everyone around them. "We've got a bit of a problem with the volcano of Dragon Island."

"Dracona Fuego?" clarified Hiccup.

"Yeah, that one. Old Wrinkly here told me it was gonna erupt if we didn't do something about it."

"How do you stop a volcano from erupting?" asked Hiccup. "Other than a Firestone..."

"Well son, we don't have any Firestones on hand, but we think we found another way."

"Like...?"

"Let me start the meeting. You'll find out then." Stoick then turned and faced the crowd. After a few minutes of shouting, he got everyone to be quiet.

"Everybody listen!" he shouted, even though no one was talking. "We've got a problem! The volcano on Dragon Island seems to be acting up! And we need to do something about it!"

Murmurs rippled through the crowd; questions aroused, like "What are we gonna do?" and "So what? It's too far away."

"Listen!" shouted Stoick. Everyone quieted down. "There _is_ a way we can stop this volcano from erupting!" Stoick shot a quick glance at Old Wrinkly before continuing. "_Legend_ has it that there is a stone that forms in volcanoes that _causes_ them to erupt! They're called Fire Diamonds. I have decided to turn this into a Quest to see who can find the Fire Diamond first and remove it from the volcano!"

Suddenly, shouting started up about who would go. A few Vikings in the back actually started a fist fight. Stoick continued shouting, desperately trying to get the villagers back under control. However, it wasn't Stoick who silenced everyone. It was Snakebane, who fell off of the rafters above, covered in swarms of Terrible Terrors. He landed back-first in the fire pit. Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and stared at the Monstrous Nightmare.

"Uh... Snakebane?" asked Hiccup. Snakebane lifted his head and looked up at Hiccup. "What are you doing?"

"Well, I was flirting with Fireworm, but she slapped me and ordered her army of Terrors to attack me!" He then sat up and flew back up to the rafters. One of the Terrors following him shouted: "Wait up, Purple One!"

Stoick glanced at Hiccup. Hiccup just shook his head.

"Okay everybody!" announced Stoick, getting everyone's attention. "There be no need to fight about who will go on this Quest! Because I've already chosen!"

"What?" asked Hiccup, turning on his dad. Stoick waved Hiccup aside.

"I have decided that we'll send the youths on this Quest!" shouted Stoick.

"Oh man," muttered Hiccup, face-palming himself.

"Youths! Front and center!"

It didn't take long at all for Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut to reach the front of the crowd and stand beside Hiccup and Camicazi.

"I've decided to do this a little differently," said Stoick to the six teenagers. "You'll be paired up in groups of two, and whatever group gets the Fire Diamond first will win the title of savior of the village... again! Now team up."

Snotlout and Tuffnut high-fived, already assuming that they were gonna win. Ruffnut made a lunge for Camicazi.

"Please be my partner!" she exclaimed. "Don't let me get stuck with another _boy_!"

"O-okay," said Camicazi, prying Ruffnut off of her arm.

"I guess it's just you and me, 'Legs," said Hiccup, giving Fishlegs a friendly punch in the shoulder.

"Y-yeah..." muttered the larger boy.

"Alright then!" exclaimed Stoick. "It's settled! You'll have all day to prepare, and you'll leave tomorrow morning!"

A large cheer resounded around the hall.

"Meeting dismissed!" shouted Stoick. "Time for breakfast!"

That just resulted in an even _louder_ cheer.

While everyone ran to get a portion of food, Old Wrinkly pulled Hiccup aside.

"What is it?" asked Hiccup, trying to ignore his growling stomach and his hungry dragon. "Toothless, go ahead and get some food." Toothless practically flew over the heads of everyone else, even though he wasn't wearing his independent tail fin.

"Hiccup, you need to make sure that _someone_ gets to that Fire Diamond before the volcano erupts," said Old Wrinkly in a hushed voice.

"Why?" asked Hiccup.

"Because if you don't then the volcano will destroy the village!"

"What do you mean?"

"If that volcano blows, it's gonna send out a shock wave," whispered Old Wrinkly. "You're a smart kid, and you know what shock waves do to water! We're on an island for crying out loud! If you fail and you _don't_ get fried by all that lava, then there won't be anywhere for you to come home to. It'll be under water!"

Hiccup had gone pale as he realized the severity of the Quest. They _had_ to get the Fire Diamond.

"Make _sure_ someone gets it," whispered Old Wrinkly. "Even Snotlout."

Hiccup groaned at the thought of his cousin getting to the Fire Diamond first. He would rub that in Hiccup's face for as long as they lived!

"Okay," said Hiccup.

Old Wrinkly slapped Hiccup on the back. "Good boy." He then whacked Hiccup's right leg with his cane. "Still too scrawny... But size isn't important!"

"Except for that time that I had to fight a giant Sea Dragon," deadpanned Hiccup.

"The Green Death is one exception," said Old Wrinkly. "Get started on preparing for that Quest..." With that, he was gone.

Hiccup stood there for a moment before slowly making his way towards the tables, looking for Camicazi. On his way, he saw Stormfly totally pigging out on a huge basket of fish, enough to feed three hungry Monstrous Nightmares. Toothless was chewing absently on a large cod.

"Hiccup, over here!" called Camicazi, waving her arms to get Hiccup's attention. Hiccup went and sat down beside her.

"Hiccup, are you okay?" asked Camicazi. "You look paler than usual."

"I'm fine," muttered Hiccup, not making eye contact with her.

"You're a bad liar, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third," said Camicazi with a sly smile on her face.

"I've just got a lot on my mind, that's all," mumbled Hiccup, hoping Camicazi would be able to tell that _that_ wasn't a lie.

"Whatever," said Camicazi. She scooted a plate of food towards Hiccup. "Eat up."

Hiccup put his head down on the table. "I'm not hungry..."

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><p><em>AN: Yay! The first chapter is up! Okay, so remember this: NO ONE else knows what went down between Snakebane and Quiver (except Pike), and ever since then, Snakebane and Quiver have been acting like they always did the way before. Okay, next chapter is preparation for the Quest to Dracona Fuego! Trust me, that chapter really twists up the whole story! And for anyone who hasn't read the FIRST book, Old Wrinkly is Hiccup's grandfather on his mother's side. Hiccup's mother, Valhallarama (let's just call her Val), died in a Quest when Hiccup was five. I think that's about it, other than the fact that I might not be able to update for a while because there's a hurricane bearing down on the entire east coast as we speak, so... yeah... You better review! Or the Fyremytes will FIND YOU! Oh wait... you don't know what Fyremytes are yet... never mind! REVIEW! And if you wanna know more about my OC dragon breeds, click on my name and under the list of stories, there will be a story labeled "Qille's OC Dragon Manual." It's a manual of all my OC dragons. So read that too. Peace out!_


	2. Be Prepared

_A/N: School... sucks... Must I say anymore? NOW! Let's start screwing stuff up!_

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><p><strong>Volcano Quest<strong>

A bit later in the afternoon, most of the ash cleared up, and breathing no longer became an issue. Everyone was let out of the Great Hall.

"So, how are you gonna prepare for the Quest?" Camicazi asked Hiccup.

Hiccup smiled. "Oh, y'know, just come up with a few new things," said Hiccup, not giving anything away.

"Hey! Hey Hiccup!" came a voice from behind them. They turned around to see Fishlegs running towards them, a book gripped tightly in his hand.

"What's up, 'Legs?" asked Hiccup.

"Well, I found this book," explained Fishlegs, out of breath from running through the knee-deep ash. Doubling over, he handed it to Hiccup.

Hiccup took one look at the cover and immediately knew that it would be important. The printed words on the leather cover were: "Volcano Monsters."

"Do you think this is talking about dragons that might live in an erupting volcano?" asked Hiccup.

Fishlegs, after finally regaining his breath, stood up and nodded. "If there are any dragons in that volcano that the Dragon Manual didn't talk about, then they're gonna be in that book."

Suddenly, Snotlout ran out of the hall. He ran right between Hiccup and Fishlegs, knocking them both over with a powerful shove. He kept running, only slowing down to turn his head and laugh.

"That's right, you better run!" shouted Hiccup, spitting ash out of his mouth. Too bad Snotlout was out of earshot.

"Hiccup, where's the book?" exclaimed Fishlegs.

"Right here," said Hiccup, reaching into the square imprint in the ash in front of him. However, the book was not there where it had fallen only two seconds ago. Hiccup gasped. "Where is it!"

"Looking for something, boys?" asked Camicazi. Hiccup froze. He knew that tone. He stood up and faced Camicazi.

"Give it back!" he demanded.

"Give what back?" asked Camicazi, smiling. She then held up her hand, and in it was the red leather book. Hiccup wasted no time in pouncing on her. They both rolled around in the ash, fighting for the book. Fishlegs stood awkwardly to the side and watched.

At that moment, Toothless and Stormfly came padding out. They stood next to Fishlegs, observing the spectacle. As a matter of fact, the twins were doing the exact same thing inside.

"What are they doing?" Stormfly asked in Dragonese.

"Well," said Toothless, "they're either fighting over that book or they're performing some kind of strange mating ritual."

"TOOTHLESS!" shouted Hiccup and Camicazi upon hearing the Fury's words. They both sprawled away from each other, dropping the book. Hiccup was blushing so deep that you couldn't see his freckles, and Camicazi's Mood Scale had turned a deep shade of scarlet, along with her cheeks.

"What? What did I say?" asked Toothless.

"What did he say?" asked Fishlegs.

Hiccup and Camicazi blushed even deeper. That was when they both saw the book. Grabbing it at the same time, they had a sort of tug-of-war. Hiccup's grip held firm, and he eventually wrestled the book from Camicazi's grasp.

"Ha!" he shouted, standing up and holding the book over his head. His victory was short-lived as Camicazi slugged him in the gut. Hiccup doubled over, but still clutched the book to his chest.

"You may have won this one, Haddock," whispered Camicazi, that thieving smile never leaving her face, "but I'll get to the Fire Diamond first."

"Dream on, Sunshine," gasped Hiccup, looking up at her and smiling his usual lopsided smile.

Camicazi kissed Hiccup's forehead before quickly walking away, the glint in her eye telling Hiccup to sleep with one eye open tonight.

"Camicazi, wait up!" cried Stormfly, bounding off after her human. "I'm still hungry!"

Hiccup stood up and walked back over to Toothless and Fishlegs, who might as well have been eating popcorn as they watched the spectacle. Hiccup handed the book to Fishlegs.

"Read it good," he told Fishlegs. "I didn't just wrestle a five foot Bog-Burglar for nothing!"

Fishlegs clutched the book tightly and nodded so hard that his helmet almost fell off.

"Awesome," said Hiccup. "I'll be in the Forge. C'mon, Toothless."

"Later, round human," Toothless said to Fishlegs, even though he couldn't understand him. He trotted off after Hiccup and Fishlegs ran back home to read the book.

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><p>"Okay, so I found out that this one is fireproof," said Hiccup, pointing to the long russet metal stick sitting on the table, "and this one melts." He pointed to the silver one sitting next to the russet one.<p>

"Okay, fireproof stick, check!" exclaimed Toothless. "Now let's test the _other_ thing!"

"Do you think they'll work?" Hiccup asked Toothless, looking at the tiny silver claws on the end of each finger on his gloves. Following Toothless's advice, Hiccup had tweaked the Night Fury scale gloves so that they now had the small claws at the end. They would help in a close-combat fight, but there was also another thing. Hiccup and Toothless walked outside and located a nice large boulder.

"Just hit it?" Hiccup asked.

"Yep," said Toothless. "Give it all your scrawny muscles can give."

"Thanks," muttered Hiccup sarcastically. He flexed his right hand, not wanting to injure his left, and punched the boulder. The shock wave reverberated up his arm, but his hand was okay.

"Okay, tell me how that works," said Hiccup, flexing his fingers to make sure nothing was broken. His hand didn't even hurt!

"The claw extensions go into the glove and run down your fingers and the back of your hand, giving the glove and your hand extra strength," explained Toothless, looking proud. "Now try the other thing!"

Hiccup shrugged and, with his left hand, slashed the rock with his claws, cupping his right hand below the strike zone. The claws sent a shower of sparks onto his right glove. But when they hit the glove... they stayed lit! Hiccup was holding a spark!

He was speechless for a while as he watched the still lit spark. It was almost as if someone had hit the pause button right after he had struck the rock, leaving the sparks suspended in their ever burning state.

"How the..." Hiccup's sentence was cut off when he was knocked over by a small blue blur. He dropped the sparks and sat up, seeing Brightclaw attached to his prosthetic leg.

"Please don't go to the volcano!" exclaimed Brightclaw, staring up at Hiccup with his wide orange eyes.

"What? Why?" asked Hiccup, sliding the Terror off of his leg. Brightclaw just wrapped his thin body around Hiccup's head.

"Brightclaw, I'm afraid he has to go," came another voice. The voice was deep and it had a strange accent that could later be identified as a British accent. The voice was coming from on top of the boulder, and it was speaking in Norse. Hiccup and Toothless slowly turned their heads and looked up.

Sitting on top of the boulder was another Terrible Terror. However, this dragon was smaller than Brightclaw. And most of it's scales were black. The Terror had a few white scales on his chest, and the scales around his eyes were white, almost as if it was wearing glasses.

"But Muskett," moaned Brightclaw.

"Brightclaw, you know he has to go on that Quest," said the black-scaled Terror, Muskett. Hiccup and Toothless were completely shocked at the fact that this dragon was speaking Norse. The only other dragon they knew that could do that was Stormfly!

"Whaaaat's going on heeeeere?" asked Hiccup in a weirded out sing-songy voice.

"This is Muskett," said Brightclaw, pointing to Muskett with his tail.

Muskett bowed formally. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance," said the dragon politely.

After Hiccup and Toothless dug their jaws out of the ash, Toothless couldn't resist asking a question. "Where did you learn to talk?"

"I was born with the knowledge," explained Muskett. "Unfortunately, though, I don't possess the ability to speak Dragonese. I can understand it perfectly like any other dragon in the world, but alas..." Muskett shrugged.

"So... why are you called Muskett?" asked Hiccup.

"I was named after a strange type of weapon. Apparently a musket is some sort of mobile cannon that humans can carry on their belts or shoulders. My parents traveled a lot before I was hatched, so they must have seen it somewhere," said Muskett. "Perhaps America!"

"There's no such thing as America!" they all exclaimed at the same time.

"Say what you want," said Muskett, turning his head away from the group. "I don't care!"

"Whatever," said Hiccup, standing up. He pried Brightclaw off of his head, only to have the dragon wrap around his arm. "Brightclaw, why don't you want me to go on the Quest?"

"B-because it's dangerous!" exclaimed Brightclaw.

"We're Vikings, we go on Quests, and they're usually always dangerous," said Hiccup. "It's an occupational hazard. You know that. Now what's the real reason?"

Brightclaw looked away nervously. "G-go ahead, Muskett. T-tell them..."

Hiccup and Toothless looked up at Muskett.

The Terror sighed and started explaining. "Brightclaw's right, it is quite dangerous. However, if you don't go soon, the Fire Diamond will collapse on itself and cause the whole volcano to erupt! But if you manage to get it out of the lava, then it won't implode."

"Wait wait wait wait," said Hiccup. "Who ever said anything about the Fire Diamond being surrounded by lava?"

"Well, you didn't think it was just going to be sitting there out in the open, did you?" asked Muskett, gliding off of the boulder and landing on Toothless's head.

"Well, then where _would_ it be?" asked Hiccup. "What part of the volcano?"

"Most definitely it would be located in the-" Muskett paused for a moment, looking around. "-the... top! Yes, most definitely the top part of the volcano right around the rim!"

Hiccup narrowed his eyes at Muskett's sudden suspicious behavior. Just before he could ask anything, however, Toothless saw something.

"Hey, who's that going up to your house?" asked Toothless, looking up at Hiccup's house. The others looked up there just in time to see a figure enter through the door. They couldn't tell who it was in the dying light, though.

"Let's go check it out," muttered Hiccup. He and Toothless quickly made their way to the Haddock residence, with Brightclaw and Muskett still following. None of them noticed the dark figure crouched behind the boulder. That very figure had heard every word Muskett had said, and if any of them had looked back, they would have seen the dark figure creeping towards the Forge.

None of them turned.

A few minutes later, they arrived at Hiccup's house. Hiccup went inside first, but he almost collided with Ruffnut. The girl was looking pale and slightly depressed. She quickly squeezed past Hiccup and the dragons, back out the door.

Hiccup quickly went inside, where his father sat at the table.

"Oh Hiccup, will you ever stop coming home with more than one dragon?" asked Stoick upon seeing the extra two Terrors.

"Hey, come on, I didn't know there was a Vorpent hiding in my coat!" exclaimed Hiccup. "Now what was Ruffnut doing here?"

"She came to tell me that she and her brother aren't goin' on the Quest," said Stoick.

"What?" gasped Hiccup. "Why?"

"It seems her and her brother got in a fight, and her brother _fell_ into a bush of poison ivy. The healer won't let him go, and her parents are making her stay," explained Stoick.

"But that means Camicazi and Snotlout don't have partners," said Hiccup. "Does that mean we're all gonna have to work _together_ on the Quest, like _normal_ Vikings should?"

Stoick opened his mouth to answer, but he was cut off by a knock on the door. "Now what?"

Stoick stood and walked to the front door, Hiccup close in tow. They were both shocked to see Camicazi standing on the other side of the door. Well, Stoick might have been shocked, but he remained stoic (no pun intended).

"Camicazi, don't tell me you're not going either!" exclaimed Hiccup, squeezing around his father's massive arms to stand in front of Camicazi.

Camicazi only shrugged. "I'm sorry." She turned to Stoick. "I'm sorry I can't go. My dragon has food poisoning and- WHOA!" she exclaimed. She and Hiccup managed to duck in time to avoid being run down by Toothless as he sprinted out the door. Stoick has simply stepped aside.

"Hiccup, can you come take a look at her?" asked Camicazi.

"Sure," said Hiccup. He turned to Stoick. "I'll be right back, Dad."

Stoick nodded, knowing that Hiccup was safe as long as Camicazi was with him.

Camicazi and Hiccup ran/limped towards Camicazi's house. The door was already ajar from Toothless's entry. When they went inside, they found Stormfly asleep on a pile of blankets on the floor, a small puddle of vomit in front of her. Toothless was sitting next to her, staring. Her Mood Scales were a sickly green color.

Hiccup stepped around the puddle of sick and sat down next to Stormfly's head. She cracked her eye open and looked at Hiccup for a moment before smiling and closing her eye again. He gently rubbed her long neck, trying to get her to relax.

"What happened?" Hiccup whispered to her.

"I ate a fish made of s***," said Stormfly, making everyone in the room blush. She shifted a bit and lay on her side. Toothless laid down next to her, rubbing his head affectionately against her neck.

Hiccup stood up and turned to Camicazi.

"Well?" she asked.

"Not much you can do for food poisoning," said Hiccup with a weak shrug. "Just make sure she gets plenty of water, and when she stops throwing up, try feeding her something different, like a rabbit or something."

"But I don't like rabbits!" moaned Stormfly.

"It's either rabbits or limpets," said Hiccup, turning around. Stormfly's eyes widened in disgust at the thought of limpets. They tasted like boogers!

"Fine..." she muttered.

Hiccup turned back to Camicazi again. "Do you want me to stay?"

"No," said Camicazi. "You still have to go on that Quest. Because if you don't, the Snotlout would win by default and..." She shuddered. "Looks like it's up to you, Snotlout, and Fishlegs."

Hiccup smiled a bit. He then turned around and said to Toothless, "C'mon Toothless, let's go."

"Do I have to?" asked Toothless.

"Yes," said Stormfly, giving Toothless a playful kick in the ribs. He stood up and looked down at her.

"Are you sure you're gonna be okay?" he asked, his green eyes wide with worry.

"Yes," said Stormfly, smiling. "It's just food poisoning, it's not like I'm dying or anything."

"Are you sure?" asked Toothless. "What if it's not food poisoning! What if it's some kind of mutant virus that eats dragon innards! Or what if it's a parasite or something!"

"Toothless, I'm pretty sure I don't have a parasite or a mutant dragon eating virus," said Stormfly, trying not to laugh.

"Toothless," said Camicazi. Toothless swirled his head around and looked at her. "I'll take care of her, don't worry. Now you two should get going."

Camicazi led Hiccup and Toothless to the door. They managed to shove Toothless out first.

"Are you sure you guys are gonna be okay?" asked Hiccup, standing half in and half out of the door.

"I don't think you should be worrying about us," said Camicazi. "I'm actually pretty concerned for you guys. There aren't any girls to keep you in line... except Fireworm..."

"Don't worry about us," said Hiccup, smiling. He leaned forward and kissed Camicazi, but they were interrupted a few seconds later by Toothless.

"Uh, Hiccup..."

Hiccup pulled away, rolled his eyes, and turned to his dragon. "What?"

"Did we leave your dad home alone with Brightclaw and Muskett?"

Hiccup's eyes opened wide and his face went pale. He quickly turned back to Camicazi. "I gotta go!" With that, he and Toothless took off up the hill. Camicazi smiled when Hiccup tripped and face-planted. Toothless grabbed Hiccup by the back of his shirt, set him upright, and the two continued running.

Hiccup burst through the door to find Brightclaw and Muskett flying around in circles, Stoick running around in a rage trying to grab and strangle the smaller reptiles. Brightclaw made sure to stay high up where Stoick couldn't reach. Muskett, however, was flying at Stoick's eye level. This would have been dangerous except for the fact that he was flying so fast it was difficult to see him. Maybe that's why his parents named him Muskett.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" shouted Hiccup.

Everyone screeched to a stop. Except for Brightclaw, who didn't stop in time to avoid the wall. Muskett was hovering right in front of Stoick, who took the opportunity to grab the speedy dragon.

"What happened?" asked Hiccup, walking forward and attempting to pry his father's hands off of Muskett.

Stoick dropped Muskett, who fell to the floor and dizzily stumbled away towards Brightclaw, who had almost given himself another concussion. Thor only knows how many he had gotten in the past year.

Hiccup took in the condition of the room. There were a few new scorch marks on the walls, and Stoick's beard looked burnt.

"Dad?" growled Hiccup.

"Uh... I'd rather not talk about it," said Stoick, actually looking a little embarrassed. "I'm just gonna go to bed. Make sure ya get your sleep too. You've got a busy day ahead." Stoick turned and disappeared into his room.

Hiccup looked at Toothless, who simply shrugged.

"I believe we've overstayed our welcome," said Muskett, now fully recovered from almost being strangled by Stoick. "Let's go, Brightclaw."

The two odd Terrors flew into the air and out the window.

Hiccup and Toothless just stood there for a minute.

"Well, I'm tired," said Hiccup.

"Yeah me too totally pooped," said Toothless quickly. His eyes rolled back into his head and he flopped down into the floor, his tongue hanging out, pretending to snore.

"Toothless," muttered Hiccup. He grabbed Toothless's front paw, sticking up in the air, and started pulling him towards their room. Toothless didn't budge. "C'mon, reptile!"

Suddenly, Hiccup lost his grip on Toothless's paw. He lost his balance, stumbled backwards, and fell to the floor, banging his head.

"Ow," he moaned, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head.

Toothless immediately jumped up. "OhmyGodsHiccupI'msosorryareyouokay!"

"Aha!" exclaimed Hiccup. Before Toothless could react, Hiccup made a miraculous recovery and he latched himself to the back of Toothless's neck. "Now you can't flop over onto your back," said Hiccup, smiling.

Toothless groaned and thrusted his head down towards the floor, almost throwing Hiccup clean off. The scrawny boy managed to hang on.

"To the room!" exclaimed Hiccup, pointing towards their room. Toothless smiled and trotted into their room, depositing Hiccup on his bed. Hiccup laughed a bit and gave Toothless a good rub down.

"Okay, now I really am tired," yawned Toothless, stretching and curling up in a ball by Hiccup's bed.

"Me too," said Hiccup, also yawning. He unstrapped his prosthesis from his shin and placed it on his bedside table. He also took off his gloves and took out his special dagger, the one made from the Shadow Dragon talon. He placed it next to his sword, smiling proudly at the trophy. If anyone tried to steal it, they would have to go through Toothless, who was currently snoring.

"See ya in the morning, Toothless," muttered Hiccup, falling asleep.

* * *

><p>That night, Hiccup had dreams of volcanoes. He had dreams that he and Toothless were flying as fast as they could, an unbearable heat at their backs. Hiccup slowly started to realize that his arm was hurting, but just as he started to look down at it, he was roughly shaken awake.<p>

"Hiccup! Wake up!" shouted Camicazi.

"Wha-" stammered Hiccup, sitting bolt upright. "What's wrong?" he shouted. He quickly hopped out of bed... and toppled over, one foot short. Luckily, he landed on Toothless, who was woken by the impact.

Hiccup quickly grabbed his prosthesis and strapped it onto his shin, standing up. "Camicazi what's wrong?"

Looking outside, Hiccup could tell that it was early early morning; so early that the sun hadn't even come up yet.

"Snotlout's gone," said Camicazi, her voice grave, letting show how deeply p***ed off she really was. "He's already heading for the volcano."

* * *

><p><em>AN: Sorry it took me so long! See, I told ya this chapter would twist the story up! Yes, it was Snotlout hiding behind the boulder. Also, I debated between having Hiccup come in and see Stoick fighting with the two dragons, or being lectured by Muskett. I guess the lecture would have been pretty funny, but oh well. Let your mind run wild with that possibility. So! We just cut the playing field in half, and you know that I'm bound to make more things go wrong! Muahahahahah! So... that's all I can think of to ramble about. If you wanna rant... DO IT IN A REVIEW! So review! Bye!_


	3. The Quest Begins

_A/N: Hey look! I found a piece of free time! Those things are so hard to come by lately. Oh yeah, and in the last chapter that I posted, Hiccup mentioned how a Vorpent hid in his coat. Yes, it did sting him, but the reason he didn't die was because he had already been stung by a Vorpent once, and if you survive one poisoning, then you're immune to being poisoned by the same thing again. Fun fact I thought you might like to know. =)_

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><p><strong>Volcano Quest<strong>

"THAT CHEAT!" shouted Hiccup. He was standing in the middle of the Forge. Half of the tools he had made last night for the Quest were gone! The silver stick was gone too, and Hiccup assumed Snotlout just took that one because it was shiny.

"What are ya gonna do now?" asked Camicazi.

Hiccup growled, sounding a lot like Toothless. He put on his gloves, adjusted his sword and dagger, and said, "I'm going after him, and I'm gonna win."

Hiccup stormed out of the Forge and Camicazi followed him. Hiccup was in such a rage that he didn't look where he was going and he ran right smack into Fishlegs.

After Fishlegs helped Hiccup stand back up, he said, "What happened?"

"Snotlout robbed the Forge and left in the middle of the night for the volcano!" exclaimed Hiccup. "We need to chase him down."

"Um..." muttered Fishlegs, looking down guiltily.

"What?" asked Hiccup. "Don't tell me you can't go too!"

"Well, I _can_ go, but I'd never be able to keep up with you and Toothless. Horrorcow is just too slow!"

"Hm... Y'know, I think I can help you with this."

* * *

><p>"Please, it'll be just for the Quest," begged Hiccup.<p>

"I don't know..." said Sig, rubbing Drift's head protectively.

"If anything happens to him, I'll personally kill him," said Camicazi.

"Please, he's our last chance!" exclaimed Hiccup, dropping to his knees and begging. "Quiver's at the bottom of the ocean, Luna's human is sick, and Snakebane is..." Hiccup looked over to where Snakebane stood, yelling at a large rock. "Snakebane is just unstable. Plus, he was born at that volcano! He could take a bath in the lava and come out unharmed!"

Sig looked at Drift. Drift nodded.

"Okay, be good Flamey," said Sig, giving her dragon a hug. Drift licked her and ran out the door where he met up with Toothless. Sig slowly closed her door.

Hiccup and Camicazi ran over to Drift and Toothless.

"Okay Fishlegs, you can come out now," said Hiccup. Fishlegs emerged from behind the boulder Snakebane was yelling at. When Snakebane saw that there was a human behind the rock, he quickly jumped backwards and fell over on his back. Of course, he landed too close to the docks, and he fell into the water, where he had a spaz attack before flying off towards the forest in his embarassment.

Fishlegs quickly walked over to Drift, staring at him with wide eyes.

"Can I help you?" asked Drift.

"He's never seen a Drifter Dragon before," said Hiccup.

"Oh my Gods..." muttered Fishlegs. He looked between Drift and Toothless. "Are Drifter Dragons really cousins to the Night Fury?"

Drift nodded.

Hiccup and Camicazi laughed a bit as Fishlegs drilled Drift with questions, and every time Drift answered he looked a little bit more creeped out.

"Okay, we better go," said Hiccup. He didn't want to let Snotlout get too far ahead of them.

"Right," said Fishlegs. "Wait, where's his saddle?"

"You're going to be riding bareback," said Hiccup, walking towards his house to let his dad know they were leaving. The sun was now starting to peek over the horizon.

"WHAT?" shouted Fishlegs, running after Hiccup. Drift, Toothless, and Camicazi followed. "Why do I have to ride bareback?"

"Because I can't find a lava-proof saddle," said Hiccup. He made it up to his house and ran inside, coming back out a minute later with a strange metal contraption and what looked like a blanket made of Night Fury scales. Stoick followed him out.

"You boys ready?" he asked.

"Um..." muttered Fishlegs.

Hiccup nodded and grabbed Toothless's tail, putting the metal contraption on his prosthetic tail fin. It was the device that would let Toothless fly on his own if the worst happened. He then took the scale blanket and slipped it over the prosthetic. It was a perfect fit.

"Fireproof tail, complete," whispered Hiccup to himself. He stood up and faced his father, while Toothless experimented with the new tail.

"So that's where all my sheded scales went..." muttered Toothless.

"There's been a change of plans, boys," said Stoick. "You two aren't gonna be working together."

"What!" they both gasped.

"If you two worked together, then it would be two against one."

"Yeah, but Snotlout got a head start," reasoned Hiccup.

"Yeah, but I'm the chief. You have to do what I say."

There was no way Hiccup was gonna argue with that logic.

"Now make sure you've got everything ready and head to the docks. Everyone will be waiting."

Without a word, Hiccup and Fishlegs turned and headed for the docks.

"You ready for this 'Legs?" asked Hiccup.

"Yeah, I guess..." muttered Fishlegs, looking pale. "I've got a hammer and a book."

"That volcano book?"

"Yeah. You want it?"

"No," said Hiccup. He looked over his shoulder and saw only the dragons. Camicazi had mysteriously disappeared and no one else was within earshot. "We should still work together," he whispered hurriedly.

"What!" exclaimed Fishlegs. "You heard what your dad said!"

"I know, but what he doesn't know... will probably kill me when he finds out."

Toothless and Drift looked at each other with a sly smile. They had totally seen that coming.

They arrived at the docks, where basically the whole village was waiting. They all received an applause as they walked down the path and stood at the cliff, overlooking the orange ocean that came with the rising sun. Snotlout and Fireworm were already flying over that ocean, towards the volcano.

Hiccup mounted Toothless, and Fishlegs stood nervously next to Drift. Drift rolled his eyes and lowered his head, allowing Fishlegs to hop on. He did, and Drift didn't even flinch at the added weight.

Fishlegs looked extremely nervous at the prospect of riding without a saddle. He didn't even get a rope this time!

"Are you sure?" he mouthed to Hiccup.

"Trust me," Hiccup mouthed back. He wouldn't need a saddle when flying with Drift.

"Hiccup!" exclaimed Camicazi, shoving her way through the crowd. In her hands she held a small leather pouch. She jumped up and handed it to him.

"What's in here?" asked Hiccup.

"Water, food, bandages, and a couple of empty flasks in case you find anything worth keeping. There's also a small metal box in there for holding the Fire Diamond," she explained.

"Thanks Camicazi," he said, attaching the bag to Toothless's saddle. She smiled, but Hiccup could tell that she was really nervous. Her Mood Scale gave it away as it turned light blue.

Without warning, Camicazi reached up, grabbed Hiccup's tunic, pulled him down, and kissed him right in front of everyone. The crowd surrounding them cheered. Camicazi pulled back and said, "Promise me you'll come back in one piece." Then, blushing, she disappeared into the crowd before Hiccup could give her an answer.

Hiccup didn't have any time to register that before Brightclaw and Muskett appeared in front of him.

"Hiccup, boy, I have to tell you something of incredible importance!" exclaimed Muskett. Brightclaw nodded vigorously. "The Fire Diamond is nowhere near the rim. It's as deep down as it can possibly be!"

"Wait, then why did you lie last night?" asked Hiccup.

"Because I knew someone was spying on us!" exclaimed Muskett. "I heard him breathing behind the boulder we I was sitting on."

"Snotlout..." growled Hiccup.

"Then how come I didn't hear him?" asked Toothless.

"Because he was being quiet and you weren't sitting on the boulder he was hiding behind."

"Well, why didn't you tell us he was there?" asked Hiccup.

"Because I'm small, and he was armed," deadpanned Muskett.

"Did that dragon just say that the Fire Diamond was at the bottom of the volcano?" asked Fishlegs, overhearing the conversation. Hiccup had forgotten that Muskett spoke Norse.

"It's deeper than the Queen's Chamber," said Muskett, turning to Fishlegs.

"Seriously!" exclaimed Hiccup. "I thought that was as deep as that volcano got!"

"Oh, heck no," said Muskett, turning back to Hiccup.

"Yeah, me and Muskett went exploring there a while ago and we found a tunnel that went down deeper!" exclaimed Brightclaw.

"Where is it?" asked Hiccup, Toothless, Fishlegs, and Drift at the same time.

Before Brightclaw or Muskett could say, Stoick emerged from the crowd. The two Terrors screamed at the top of their lungs and took of flying in opposite directions, taking their answer with them.

"LET THE QUEST BEGIN!" shouted Stoick. The crowd roared and Hiccup looked to Fishlegs. He gave Hiccup a nod of good luck, as if they were competing. Hiccup nodded back.

Both dragons took off out over the open water. As they flew higher, Hiccup looked over at Fishlegs, who had his arms wrapped around Drift's neck. Drift had only flapped his wings once or twice upon takeoff, and he was now drifting up higher, so steady it was as if they were still on the ground. He and Toothless were level with each other as they flew higher.

Hiccup looked over his shoulder at the crowd behind him. He could easily pick out Camicazi and her wild blonde hair, and he saw his father standing in the front, waving. He was about to wave back when something caught his eye. Up near the tree line beyond the village, there stood a dark cloaked figure, half hidden by the trees. Hiccup stared at that figure before it suddenly disappeared into the trees.

Hiccup shuddered as chills ran down his spine. He quickly turned around and looked over at Fishlegs again. Fishlegs had let go of Drift's neck and was just sitting there, facing the other way too. Hiccup couldn't tell if he was looking back at Berk or if he was watching Drift's wings, tail, and secondaries. All of Drift's sides below his neck were used for flight, and Fishlegs was watching how they caught the air and allowed for effortless flight. He remembered reading about them in the Dragon Manual.

Hiccup smiled at the look on Fishlegs' face. He forgot about the dark shadowy figure as he faced forward again, squinting at the rising sun. Leaning to the side, he looked at Toothless. The thing about dragons is that their membranous third eyelid can darken at the dragon's will, like built-in sunglasses. Toothless was currently using his sunglasses, and, looking over, so was Drift.

Closing his eyes, Hiccup gently rubbed Toothless's neck. Toothless smiled a bit. Behind them, Berk disappeared in the clouds as they flew higher into the lightening sky.

Hiccup had no idea what kind of hell he would go through that day, but he did know this:

The Quest had begun.

And Snotlout was going down.

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><p><em>AN: A speedy update! And it's only 4:30 in the afternoon! I want some spaghetti._

_SO who do ya think the mysterious dark cloaked figure was? I'll give you a hint: this dark figure has been creeping around throughout all of my stories. ;) _

_In case you were wondering, YES, Monstrous Nightmares DO come in purple. To quote from book 1 of the HTTYD series, "Monstrous Nightmares come in emerald green brilliant scarlet, and the deepest purple." So yes, they can be purple! So take that._

_So review, and I'll try and update sooner! =D Oh yeah, and who should get glomped at the end: Hiccup or Toothless?_


	4. Arrival

_A/N: Yay, back to the volcano! Sorry for taking so long. School is a b****! Can't believe it took me 2 months. Damn. Anyways, enjoy!_

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><p><strong>Volcano Quest<strong>

He ran for his life through the forest. He could hear the footsteps behind him. He was fast, but the air thick with ash made it near impossible to breathe. The arrow wound on his chest didn't really help either. But he _had_ to keep running! His life depended on it...

Another arrow whooshed right by head, nearly taking off his left ear. However, when the projectile embedded itself in a tree in front of him, he saw that it wasn't an arrow. It was a harpoon. His blue eyes widened and he ran even faster.

The footsteps behind him were getting closer. That was when his eyes made out a clearing. If he could make it to that clearing, he would probably be able to escape!

Willing his shaking legs to go faster, he plunged through the bush and towards the clearing. The footsteps behind him slowed down. Quickly, he turned his head to see the cloaked figure come to a stop.

The only problem was, he wasn't looking forward when he burst into the clearing.

Something wrapped itself around his feet and he tripped, tumbling to the ground. His head connected with something metal, and he saw stars.

When his blurry vision cleared, he saw that someone had set up a cage around him. He had landed right on the floor of the cage.

"Oh no..." he breathed. He was still on his side, and his concussion didn't help. He tried to get himself upright, but his worn and shaking limbs didn't allow it. After several failed attempts, he collapsed, totally exhausted and hurting.

After a minute, he heard footsteps again. His vision cleared a bit more, and he saw the figure that had shot and chased him. The man stared at him with loathing eyes for a few minutes before raising his left hand and signaling to someone hidden from sight.

About fifty large figures stepped from the trees. They were huge, and they smelled so bad that he could smell them all the way from the center of the clearing. A lot of them came right up to the cage and lifted it up, along with him inside of it. The man who seemed to be in charge came and stood right under the cage. He couldn't see what happened, but something sharp poked him in the side, and he blacked out.

The cage was brought through the forest to a small river, where a boat with blood red sails was docked. The cage was loaded onto the boat, right next to fifty other cages, all containing an unconscious being. Everyone boarded the ship, which raised its anchor and sailed down the river, towards the open water.

* * *

><p>Above the clouds of ash, the sky was clear. Hiccup continued to stare down at the ash clouds, which would occasionally light up with electricity. Fishlegs was still studying how Drift flew.<p>

They had been flying for about an hour now. They were high enough to escape the sweltering August heat, but the sun was practically shining right in their faces. Not that it really bothered them; the dragons eyes were tinted, Hiccup's eyes were closed, and Fishlegs was still facing backwards.

A few minutes later, Hiccup broke the silence. "Toothless?"

Toothless's ear stood up, letting Hiccup know that he heard him.

"Did you see anyone in the forest this morning?"

"Not anyone out of the ordinary," said Toothless. "Why?"

"When we were leaving, I turned around and saw someone or something hiding just on the edge of the forest. I dunno, it kinda freaked me out a bit."

"Well, maybe it was just a boar or dragon or something."

"No, it was too tall and human-shaped to be an animal."

"Well then it was probably just someone who usually goes into the forest who didn't feel like coming out."

"I guess..." Hiccup thought back a bit. Then he remembered something. Glancing over and making sure that Fishlegs and Drift were too far away to hear, he said: "Actually, about a month or two ago, I was in the Forge and I thought I heard someone limping around. There wasn't anyone out there when I looked, but I found what I think was a part of some kind of weapon. It looked like I tiny metal dragon tooth."

"Do you still have it?" asked Toothless.

Hiccup blushed a little bit. "Uh, no... Camicazi popped out of nowhere and scared me. I dropped it between the floorboards."

"And just where was I when this happened?" asked Toothless, tilting his head a bit to look at Hiccup.

"You were off making love with Stormfly," deadpanned Hiccup.

Toothless blushed and whipped his head around, avoiding looking at Hiccup. Under his hands, Hiccup felt Toothless's scales heat up with embarrassment.

Before Toothless had a chance to come up with anything to defend himself, Fishlegs cried out: "There it is!"

Looking up, Hiccup saw a mountainous cloud of ash billowing miles into the air. In that cloud of ash, they could see the occasional burst of fire and lightning.

"We've gotta go lower!" exclaimed Hiccup, having to shout over the sounds of the eruptions. "Fishlegs, hold on tight!" Fishlegs wrapped his arms around Drift's neck, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Ready..." Hiccup looked down at the ash cloud. As soon as he saw a flash of lightning, he shouted: "GO!"

Toothless and Drift went into a nosedive and plunged through the ash cloud. As they passed through the thick wall of ash and smoke, electricity surged around them in the toxic air. Hiccup hoped Fishlegs was holding his breath too.

Hiccup squinted through the ash and wind, his eyes watering and his face stinging from the cuts he was receiving. Suddenly, the dragons burst through the bottom and leveled out of their dive. Fishlegs looked up, but kept a firm hold on Drift. The air around them was swirling with burning hot ash particles. Electricity lit up the sky, and below them, the ocean was churning with shockwaves and tremors.

Suddenly, a large dark mass appeared in front of them, coming their way quickly.

_What is that?_ Hiccup wondered, squinting to see. _That can't be the volcano; we aren't close enough yet..._

It wasn't the volcano at all. It was a large pack of Scrills. Hiccup felt Toothless charge up the gas in his throat, ready in case they were attacked.

They weren't. The Scrills flew right on by, looking somewhat panicked.

"Hiccup..."moaned Fishlegs, completely terrified. "If the Scrills are running, then shouldn't _we_ be running too?"

Hiccup gulped. "We should be running."

They kept flying.

A few minutes later, the volcano came into sight.

Dracona Fuego was spewing out ash like a geyser. The pebbly beach was completely covered. The hole in the side of the volcano near the ground was gushing out lava, which rolled into the churning ocean and created huge amounts of steam, limiting the visibility even further.

"Do you see Snotlout or Fireworm anywhere?" Hiccup shouted to Fishlegs.

"No, but I see _that_!" Hiccup looked over and saw Fishlegs pointing down. He looked down at the surface of the volcano, and his eyes widened. It was completely covered in dragon eggs.

Drift slowed down to a crawl, staring down at the eggs with wide eyes. He slowly started descending until Hiccup called to him. "Drift, let's go!"

He shook his head to clear his thoughts before soaring to catch back up with Hiccup and Toothless.

"What was that all about?" asked Hiccup when Drift caught up to them.

"I was-" His answer was cut off when they heard a scream coming from a cave up near the top of the volcano. A red light was emanating from that cave.

As fast as they could, Toothless and Drift raced up to the cave entrance. When they landed, Hiccup and Fishlegs hopped off. The red glow was coming from something further down the tunnel. Everyone took a step forward towards the light when...

Fireworm came shooting around the bend, running full speed towards the exit of the tunnel. Everyone jumped out of the way in time... except Drift. He wasn't quick enough, and Fireworm barreled into him, knocking him backwards and out of the tunnel.

Still in a panic, Fireworm spread her wings and flew off. However, as she flew, her tail whacked into the roof of the tunnel, cracking it. Hiccup quickly stood up and scrambled to the edge, looking down. Drift was lying on his back at the bottom of the volcano, slowly regaining consciousness. It would be a while before he got back up here. Looking up, he saw that Fireworm had disappeared into the clouds.

Suddenly, someone deeper in the tunnel let out a terrified scream. Hiccup whipped around and stood up, taking out his sword. The source of the red light was growing closer. Another scream. Fishlegs took out his hammer and Toothless bent down in an attack position.

"Toothless," breathed Hiccup. Toothless glanced at him. "Don't use fire yet. Don't wanna collapse the tunnel."

Toothless's eye twitched a bit and he nodded, swallowing the gas. Then, who should come running around the corner but Snotlout, screaming like a little girl. He ran right into Toothless and bounced off, falling to the floor.

"Oh thank gods you guys are here!" he gasped, pale and terrified. There were a couple bleeding burns on his face and arms.

Suddenly, before Hiccup had any time to start yelling, a crackling and popping noise sounded from deeper into the tunnel.

"It's them!" exclaimed Snotlout. He scrambled to his feet and held up his sword... or... what _used_ to be his sword. Now it was just a piece of melted metal on a handle. "They did this!"

"Calm down!" exclaimed Hiccup. "Who is _they_?"

"Uh... Hiccup..." gasped Fishlegs, pointing further down into the tunnel. Hiccup looked and gasped. Snotlout gulped and slowly hid behind Hiccup.

About ten long, slender, beings turned the corner. They were all on fire.

The long reptilian figures slunk towards them. Without a second thought, Hiccup grabbed what was left of Snotlout's sword and flung it at one of the creatures. The creature must not have been expecting a reaction so soon, so it was prepared. The sword handle connected with it's head and knocked it out. The others continued forward, not even acknowledging that one of their own had been knocked unconscious.

"Don't back up," whispered Hiccup, knowing that they were backed into a corner. Literally.

Suddenly, one of the creatures lunged right at Hiccup. He ducked, and Snotlout, who was behind him, dove out of the way. It lunged again, but Toothless kicked it right in the jaw, sending it flying back out of the tunnel.

Another few advanced forward. Hiccup and Fishlegs pulled their shields off of their backs and held them up. Instead of pulling out his sword, Hiccup pulled out his Shadow dagger. Toothless lowered himself in a pouncing position with his wings slightly spread to make himself look bigger. Snotlout picked up a rock.

Without warning, _all_ of the creatures swarmed them. Toothless swatted at the ones near him, but they were fast enough to scamper out of the way. Hiccup slashed at anything that came near him with his dagger. Fishlegs wildly swung his hammer around. Snotlout threw rocks at anything near him. The creatures danced around them like flames, waiting for the right moment to attack.

After a minute of waiting, one of the creatures finally pounced. It went right for Hiccup. He managed to hold his shield up in time, and the creature's claws sunk into the shield, and _not_ his chest. However, they were heavier than they looked, and the creature knocked Hiccup on his back. The other living flames kept Toothless, Fishlegs, and Snotlout busy.

As the creature, which was almost as big as Hiccup, kept him pinned to the ground, the fire surrounding it started to dim, and Hiccup got a really good look at it.

It was a dragon. The dragon had a round head like a Terror, but with really short, small horns. It had six legs. The first and third set of legs were in the normal place for a dragon with that kind of build, but the second set were the weird ones. The second set of legs were located basically in the armpits of the first set. The second set were the ones with the wings attached. The tail was long and horny, and their eyes were a solid red with no pupil.

Hiccup's eyes widened even more as the fire surrounding the dragon practically went out, revealing it's scale color to be black. Then it opened it's mouth.

_So that's where all that fire went..._ Hiccup thought. Knowing that the dragon was about to flame on him, he gripped his dagger and stabbed the dragon in the chest. It's red eyes widened and then turned black. The creature slumped down, dead.

Hiccup quickly sat up and shook the thing off his shield. That was when the volcano started shaking with another earthquake. All of the dragons froze in place before turning and flying back into the depths of the tunnel.

A minute later, the earthquake stopped. The tunnel hadn't collapsed.

Hiccup slowly stood up and looked around. Everyone was okay, with only minor cuts and burns. Fishlegs' eyes were on the dead dragon.

"Hiccup..." he gasped. "Do you know what kind of dragon this is?"

"No," said Hiccup, checking Toothless's tail fin to make sure it hadn't burnt. "I didn't read that volcano monster book."

"This is a Fyremyte!" exclaimed Fishlegs. "They guard the Fire Diamond!"

"Anything else you wanna tell us?" asked Snotlout sarcastically.

"Yeah!" exclaimed Fishlegs. "They're super hard to kill because they're on fire all the time!"

"But that one wasn't on fire when I stabbed it," said Hiccup. "It was trying to-"

"It's said that they don't speak Dragonese," interrupted Fishlegs, "so there's no way to reason with them. Oh! And after they die, their bodies self-destruct!"

Everyone was silent for a minute. Then the Fyremyte's body started to glow.

"RUN!" shouted Hiccup. Everyone turned and sprinted deeper into the tunnel. Toothless grabbed Hiccup by the back of his shirt and ran with him.

Behind them, the Fyremyte's body exploded, sending a wave of heat and fire at them. Behind them, the rocks tumbled from the already weakened ceiling, sealing off the entrance.

They were trapped inside the volcano.

* * *

><p><em>AN: SO who do you guys think got kidnapped? And who was the kidnapper? All the clues are laid out for ya, you've just gotta put 'em together! ;)_

_Sorry for taking so long. Project after project after project. But hey, school before FanFiction. Luckily, it's the weekend. So enjoy! And now you know what Fyremytes are... So BEWARE! They will come after you if you don't leave a review! Muahahahahaha!_


	5. Down the Tunnel

_A/N: Yes, I'm still alive and updating. What just happened: the body of the Fyremyte exploded and caused a cave in. Now, Hiccup, Toothless, Fishlegs, and Snotlout are trapped in the volcano. Oh, and did anyone see the How to Train your Dragon Christmas special? The thing with Toothless's tail. I TOTALLY CALLED IT! Enjoy. ;D_

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><p><strong>Volcano Quest<strong>

Hiccup slowly stood up, wincing at the slight burn the explosion had left on his back. He slowly walked down towards the blocked tunnel; he placed his gloved hand on one of the large boulders that had sealed off the entrance. It was still hot.

Suddenly, Hiccup whipped around to face Snotlout. "_You idiot!_" he shouted.

"What?" exclaimed Snotlout, standing up to face his cousin.

"This is all _your fault_!" Hiccup shouted back at him, his fists clenched in rage.

"How is this _my_ fault?" Snotlout shouted back, raising his voice to be heard over Hiccup's rage.

"You _cheated_!" Hiccup fumed. "You got a head start! You left and came here in the middle of the night just because you were afraid of losing, when it wasn't a competition to begin with! And now, we're _trapped here, and the volcano is probably going to explode and kill us!_"

"Guys, calm down!" exclaimed Fishlegs, extremely worried. Hiccup was normally the one that kept a level head, and it scared him to see him this angry.

"I'm sorry," said Hiccup sarcastically, "but I already lost a limb here before, and I don't wanna lose another one!"

Fishlegs gulped.

Finally, Toothless stepped between Hiccup and the others. "Hiccup," he whispered in Dragonese, "you need to calm down. You and I both know that Fishlegs is too panicky to make it out of here without your help, and Snotlout is too stupid to get out of here." Slowly, reason slowly trickled back into Hiccup's eyes and he slowly unclenched his fists.

"That's right," said Toothless as Hiccup calmed down. "Now just calm down and think..."

Hiccup took a deep breath and nodded. "Thanks Toothless," he whispered in Dragonese. Slowly, he looked around Toothless and at Fishlegs and Snotlout. They were both looking at him expectantly. At that moment, Hiccup _really_ wished that Camicazi was there to restore order, but he was also glad that she wasn't. He was glad that she was safe back in Berk... even though he wasn't sure Berk was even safe anymore.

Hiccup walked to the end of the tunnel, and he saw that it bent to the right. He looked down the tunnel, into the darkness. "We should keep going," he said, turning to face the others. "I think this is an old lava tunnel. It'll probably take us deeper into the volcano. We can find the Fire Diamond, stop the volcano from erupting, and get the hell out of here."

Toothless and Fishlegs nodded in agreement. Snotlout, however, took a slight step back.

"What if we try and clear away some of these rocks," suggested Snotlout, gesturing to the giant boulders blocking the exit.

"Sure, Snotlout," said Hiccup, crossing his arms and smiling. "Go ahead and move some of those rocks."

Snotlout glared at Hiccup before wiping his hands against his shirt and walking over to a large boulder, four feet across. He wrapped his arms around it and tried to lift it up. The rock didn't budge. Snotlout's face turned deep red with the effort of trying to lift the boulder.

"Remember, lift with your knees," said Hiccup sarcastically, resulting in a giggle from Toothless and Fishlegs.

Snotlout shot a glare over his shoulder before giving up and letting go of the the rock. He slowly walked back over to the others.

"Too heavy for your tiny human arms?" laughed Toothless.

"What did he just say?" snarled Snotlout.

"He said you did a very good job hugging that rock," said Hiccup sarcastically. Toothless burst into laughter.

"Whatever," muttered Snotlout, rolling his eyes. "Why don't you just tell your dragon to blast the rocks away?"

"I don't tell him to do anything," said Hiccup. "He does whatever he wants."

Toothless smiled menacingly, showing his teeth. He winked at Snotlout.

Snotlout gulped and got kinda pale. "...Can we just go now?"

Hiccup nodded, and the mood became a bit more tense. No one knew _what_ they would find down that tunnel. They slowly started walking down the dark tunnel; the only light came from Toothless's glowing eyes.

After walking for a few minutes, the tunnel came to another turn, this one curving left.

"Wait for a minute," Hiccup said quietly. The others stopped, and Hiccup turned to Fishlegs. "Do you still have that book? The one about volcano dragons?"

Fishlegs nodded and set his basket down. The basket was slightly burnt because of the explosion, but nothing inside suffered any damage. Fishlegs pulled the book out and handed it to Hiccup, who flipped through it for a moment with Toothless looking over his shoulder.

"There it is," Hiccup whispered to Toothless in Dragonese. Toothless looked at the note in the book for a moment before nodding. Hiccup closed the book and handed it back to Fishlegs.

"What were you looking at?" asked Snotlout, looking around nervously.

"Just taking a few precautions," said Hiccup. "Just in case."

Any questions were cut off when the ground shook with a tremor. A few trickles of dirt rained down from the tunnel ceiling, and the air around them got a bit hotter.

"We better keep moving," said Hiccup when the tremor died down.

The others nodded and they slowly made their way around the turn, continuing on. The air was slowly getting a bit hotter as they moved closer to the core of the volcano.

"So..." said Fishlegs after a few minutes, "do we even know _where_ the Fire Diamond is, or how we're gonna get to it?"

"It should be up near the top," said Snotlout.

Hiccup smiled a bit. "So it _was_ you spying on us last night..."

"What are you talking about?" demanded Snotlout.

"Last night, a little dragon that can speak Norse told us that the Fire Diamond would be near the top of the volcano, right around the rim," Hiccup explained, his sarcastic smile never leaving his face. "He told us it was at the top because he heard someone hiding behind the rock he was sitting on. If you hadn't cheated and left early, then you would have heard him tell us that it was actually really deep down below the main chamber."

Snotlout's face had gone from pale at Hiccup's accusation to deep red with embarrassment. Before he could say anything in his defense, Toothless interrupted him.

"Hiccup..." he whispered, his ears standing straight up as he listened to something moving deeper in the tunnel. Everyone went completely silent, and they could barely hear something scurrying around.

Hiccup put his finger over his mouth, telling the others to stay quiet. He then slightly waved his hand, gesturing for them to move forward. He and Toothless slowly walked forward, with Fishlegs and Snotlout close behind. Toothless kept his eyes trained low near the tunnel floor.

Suddenly, Hiccup stopped. He waited for a moment before slowly pointing forwards into the depths of the tunnel. About ten feet away from them, about 50 small pairs of eyes glowed in the dark. The eyes were so small that they seemed to just be pinpricks of light in the darkness, but they were there.

"What are they...?" Snotlout whispered.

Hiccup didn't answer. Instead, he just let out a long, quiet, high-pitch whistle. The little pinprick eyes disappeared, and Hiccup stopped whistling.

"Hiccup..." whispered Fishlegs, "were those..."

"Piffleworms, yeah," said Hiccup, nodding.

"Piffle-whats?" stammered Snotlout.

Toothless leaned forward, and his eyes illuminated a small pack of tiny frozen black-scaled dragons. Each dragon was only an inch or two long, but their open mouths revealed their long fangs, which were dripping purple venom.

"Small, yet poisonous," said Fishlegs. "Venom, 50. To quote from the Dragon Manual: _they're so poisonous that if you get bit, you have about a quarter of a second to curse your bad luck before you drop dead._ I don't know what their poison does to you if they're paralyzed."

"I do," said Hiccup, sliding his right glove off so that the others could see the two small, circular puncture wounds on his palm. "Don't step on them. Their fangs are sticking straight up in the air, so just step around them."

"But..." Snotlout stammered, "how did you-"

"Piffleworms are paralyzed by whistling," Hiccup explained as he stepped over the small mass of nanodragons with poisonous fangs. Toothless had already stepped ahead, and he was lighting the pile of dragons so that the others didn't step on them.

"I don't remember that book saying anything about Piffleworms," said Fishlegs as he carefully stepped over the dragons.

"That's because it didn't say anything about Piffleworms," said Hiccup. "It just said that there could be _some_ poisonous dragons lurking in lava tubes like this. Toothless and I know how much Piffleworms love tunnels, so..." He shrugged, letting the sentence hang. They all looked at Snotlout, who was still on the other side of the paralyzed dragons. "C'mon Snotlout, hurry before they wake up."

Snotlout bounced in place for a moment before trying to gracefully jump over the cluster of Piffleworms. He made it over, but when he landed, he tripped and face-planted.

"Oh Snot-face..." said Toothless. "Fail."

* * *

><p>They walked fast to put distance between themselves and the horde of Piffleworms. The tunnel slowly got a bit wider, and the air grew even hotter. The tunnel was angling down, so Hiccup hoped they were getting closer to a path to the core.<p>

Up ahead in the tunnel, something started glowing red.

"Hiccup..." whimpered Fishlegs. "W-what is that?"

Hiccup looked over to Toothless. "Do you hear any dragons?"

Toothless shook his head, no. "It _sounds_ kinda like water..."

"Water?" Hiccup wondered out loud.

"Good, I'm thirsty!" exclaimed Snotlout.

"I don't think you're gonna want to drink _this_," said Hiccup as he walked around the slight bend, looking at what was glowing red. The others stepped up beside him, and their jaws dropped.

The walls of the cavern they stood in were obsidian black for the most part, but there were veins of clear, glass-like rock spider-webbing the walls. Behind these clear rocks flowed bubbling magma. The magma flowing through the ceiling of the cavern was what created the red glow, seeing as most of the ceiling was made of the clear rock. It was almost as if there was a clear bubble of air protecting them as they were surrounded by the molten rock.

"This is amazing..." whispered Hiccup, his eyes wide and his mouth open. He took a few steps closer to the wall and saw that the clear rock was some kind of crystal. Hiccup took off his glove and cautiously reached forward, gently running his finger over the crystals. "They're cold..."

"How did this get here...?" Toothless wondered out loud.

"I thought you grew up in this volcano..." Hiccup said, turning to Toothless.

He shook his head. "Actually, I grew up on an island way out to sea."

"Hey, what's this...?" Snotlout asked no one. Hiccup turned and saw that he was bending over what looked like giant, hollowed out pieces of coal. Hiccup walked over and knelt down, taking a better look. He picked one of the objects up, examining it.

"It looks like..." Looking a bit closer, Hiccup saw claw and burn marks on the inside of the object. "I think... I think these used to be dragon eggs!"

"Dragon eggs?" exclaimed Fishlegs. "But what kind of dragon could possibly hatch here?"

"Let's think for a minute," said Hiccup in a way that told everyone else that he already knew the answer. "Snotlout, how far into this tunnel did you make it before you ran out screaming?"

"Just past that first turn," said Snotlout, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"Before you were chased out by Fyremytes," Hiccup added. "It makes you wonder: where did those Fyremytes come from in the first place?"

Snotlout just stared at him, still confused, but Fishlegs got it. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "Are you saying these are Fyremyte eggs?"

"_Used to be_ Fyremyte eggs," said Hiccup, tossing the empty shell in his hands to Fishlegs. "They've already hatched."

"But there are like 50 shells in here!" exclaimed Snotlout.

"And we were attacked by 10 of them..." said Hiccup, waiting for the information to kick in.

"So it kinda makes you wonder..." Fishlegs muttered.

"Where are all the others?" Hiccup finished for him. They all looked at each other for a moment before Hiccup stood up. "I think we better keep going..." The others nodded in agreement.

"There's the other tunnel," said Toothless, gesturing across the cavern.

"Then let's get going," said Hiccup.

"What about water?" asked Snotlout.

Hiccup pulled a canteen of water out of the basket attached to Toothless's saddle. He tossed it to Snotlout. "Make it last. I've only got a few." Snotlout nodded gratefully.

They all cautiously made their way across the cavern and into the next tunnel. This one was sloping down at a much steeper angle, so they had to watch their step. They walked on for a few minutes until the angle of the tunnel got so steep that they were practically crawling.

That was when Hiccup's foot slipped. Before he could catch himself, he fell on his back. Because of the steep angle, he started sliding.

"Hiccup!" shouted Toothless. He tried to grab Hiccup – with his teeth retracted, of course – but _he_ slipped too! "Whoa!" As Toothless fell, his tail swept Fishlegs and Snotlout's feet out from under them, and they _all_ ended up sliding.

A bit further down the tunnel, Hiccup was trying to stop himself. He dug his clawed hands into the slick ground, but the tunnel was too slippery for his claws to get a grip. He dug his heels into the ground ahead of him, but his prosthetic leg hit a dip, which ended up twisting his leg around. He let out a sharp cry as fiery pain shot through his entire left leg.

Suddenly, the tunnel curved up ahead. He managed to get a good hold on something on the turn, but the force of suddenly stopping almost ripped his arms from their sockets. However, he slowed himself down enough for Toothless to catch up.

Toothless quickly wrapped his tail around Hiccup's waist and pulled him closer. Making sure that Hiccup was secure, Toothless turned so that he was facing back into the tunnel. The then dug _his_ claws into the ground. Since his claws were much larger and stronger than Hiccup's improvised claws, he managed to get a grip.

"Toothless!" Hiccup shouted. Toothless looked over his shoulder and saw Hiccup clinging to his tail like he did the first time they flew together. That was when he saw the end of the tunnel, and the angry red glow at the end. He felt the heat blast him in the back, and he realized what was happening: the tunnel ended right into a chamber of magma.

With renewed determination, Toothless dug his claws into the ground even harder. They were slowing down. The end of the tunnel was getting closer.

"_Toothless!_" screamed Hiccup, tightening his grip on Toothless's tail. Toothless was slowing down, but they were still too close to the end!

With all of his strength, Toothless lifted his claws before bringing them back down as hard as he could, lodging them into the floor. Sparks shot up, and his muscles ached, but they quickly slowed to a stop at the _very_ end of the tunnel. The tip of Toothless's tail fin was hanging off the edge. Hiccup slowly crawled up towards Toothless's back. Toothless walked forward a bit to get his tail away from the edge.

"W-w-we should p-probably go back up to the others," stammered Hiccup once he was half-way up Toothless's tail. He didn't want to let go yet.

Before Toothless could even get the words "Good idea" out of his mouth, a scream echoed from above them. Toothless didn't even have time to brace himself for the impact before Fishlegs and Snotlout rammed into him as they slid down the tunnel.

_WHAM!_

The impact sent Toothless sliding backwards so that most of his tail fell over the edge. Hiccup slid down his tail, unable to get a grip, and he would have fallen if Toothless hadn't extended his tail fins. Hiccup wrapped his arms and working leg around Toothless's tail, looking down at the bubbling pool of magma. They had made it to the Queen's Chamber, or what was left of it. Columns of smoke bellowed upwards, and the heat was almost unbearable.

Suddenly, Hiccup was pulled back up as Toothless pulled his tail back into the tunnel. Once the ground was safely below him, Hiccup let go of Toothless's tail and sat gasping for breath, feeling ready to have an asthma attack on the spot.

"Hiccup, are you okay?" whimpered Toothless, gently nuzzling Hiccup's face.

Hiccup took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. "Yeah... I'm okay..." he gasped.

Snotlout, who, along with Fishlegs, had been stopped by Toothless, cautiously walked to the end of the tunnel and looked down at the magma. "I think I see another tunnel," he said.

Fishlegs looked out across the sea of magma. "Oh yeah, I see it too!" he exclaimed, spotting the small tunnel entrance about 20 feet above the lava. Looking down, he saw that the tunnel they were in now was about 100 feet above the lava, but there was no path connecting the two tunnels. "But how are we supposed to get over there?"

"You seem to be forgetting that the dragon I'm leaning against has wings," said Hiccup sarcastically. Fishlegs and Snotlout turned around to see Hiccup standing up and leaning against Toothless for support. He wasn't putting any weight on his left leg. They walk/limped forward and joined the others at the ledge.

"Toothless, do you think you can make that?" Hiccup asked him.

"With all three of you on my back?" Hiccup nodded, and Toothless smirked. "Not a problem. Just let me fly down there and make sure."

"Okay," said Hiccup. He turned to Fishlegs and Snotlout. "Toothless is gonna fly down there and see if it's big enough for him to fly us all in." They nodded, and Hiccup moved away from Toothless, leaning on Fishlegs for support.

Toothless, using his independent fire-proof tail fin, flew across the sea of magma and into the other tunnel. He was gone for a minute before reappearing and flying back up into the first tunnel. "This one's big enough. It looks like it goes deeper into the volcano."

Suddenly, another violent tremor shook the volcano. The magma below started to rise.

"We've gotta go!" exclaimed Hiccup, hopping onto Toothless's back.

"The tunnel curves up," said Toothless hurriedly. "If we hurry, we can outrun it!"

"He said there's a chance," Hiccup told the other two. "Now _get on_!"

Without hesitating, Fishlegs and Snotlout jumped on Toothless's back. Toothless didn't even flinch at the added weight.

"Go, Toothless, _go_!" shouted Hiccup. He didn't even bother hooking his harness to the saddle, seeing as his hands were shaking too much; he simply wrapped his arms tightly around Toothless's neck. Fishlegs held on to Hiccup so tight that he nearly broke a rib. Snotlout wrapped his arms around Fishlegs, silently crying for his mommy.

Toothless took off as fast as he could, waiting until the last minute to swoop down and into the tunnel. A large stream of magma followed them in. Toothless didn't even land; he just kept flying. Luckily, the tunnel was wide enough for his massive wingspan, but it wasn't very high, so Hiccup, Fishlegs, and Snotlout had to stay bent low to avoid having their heads taken off. The lava was right on their tail.

Suddenly, Toothless swerved up, following the path of the tunnel. He then swerved right and headed for a sudden cliff at the end of the path.

"Toothless!" Hiccup screamed over the rush of wind and the deafening boiling of the lava behind them. It had risen beyond the level of the rise, and it was right behind them again.

"What?" Toothless shouted back.

"Look out!" Toothless looked ahead and saw that the path to the cliff was too narrow for his wingspan.

"Everybody, hold on to your butts!" shouted Toothless. As soon as they reached the narrow part of the tunnel, Toothless folded his wings in and they plunged through the gap. As soon as they were on the other side, he spread his wings again. The floor disappeared beneath them, dropping into a sheer cliff.

As soon as they were over the cliff, Toothless stopped and turned around, hovering in midair. All four of them watched as the lava spilled through the gap and plunged off the cliff into a smaller, sizzling pool of lava below.

"So where do we go now?" Snotlout asked over the sizzling of the lava.

Toothless looked around and saw two different tunnels a bit lower than where he was hovering. He soared over to them, but stopped, looking between the two tunnels. "Which one do we take?"

Before Hiccup could make any suggestions, a bright red glow started coming from the left tunnel.

"Hide in the right tunnel," Hiccup quickly whispered. Toothless flew over to the tunnel on the right and turned around, crouching down. A moment later, about 20 Fyremytes flew out of the tunnel and disappeared, heading back towards the Queen's Chamber.

"So we should go down this tunnel," suggested Snotlout, watching as the dragons disappeared.

"No, wait a minute," said Hiccup. "Why would they be coming from _that_ tunnel?"

"Please don't tell me you think we should go down that tunnel," Fishlegs whispered to Hiccup nervously.

"Just hear me out," said Hiccup, starting to get excited. "What if they were down in that tunnel because they were guarding something?"

"If they're guarding something, then there are probably gonna be more!" exclaimed Snotlout. "And what would they be guarding anyways?"

Hiccup turned around and stared at Snotlout with a deadpan expression. "Seriously?"

Snotlout stared back for a moment before realization dawned on his face. "_Oh_, the Fire Diamond! Right..."

Hiccup face-palmed himself.

Fishlegs leaned around Hiccup and spoke to Toothless. "Uh, can we go before Hiccup pushes Snotlout into the lava?"

Toothless laughed a bit and glided out of the tunnel they were hiding in. He turned in a graceful arc in midair and flew into the tunnel on the left; the one the Fyremytes had flown out of. Once he landed, Snotlout and Fishlegs quickly dismounted. Hiccup slowly slid off and landed on his right leg, trying not to put any pressure on his injured left leg.

"What did you do to your leg?" Snotlout asked him, just now noticing his cousin's limp.

"Twisted it..." muttered Hiccup, his face pale.

"How did you manage to twist your ankle when you don't even _have_-" A snarl from Toothless cut him off.

"C'mon, let's just go," said Hiccup. He leaned against Toothless, and they walked forward, with Fishlegs and Snotlout right behind them.

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><p><em>AN: Hm, I wonder what they'll find next! Oh, and if anybody finds the Jurassic Park quote, I'll give you a cookie! Poor Hiccup. Trapped in a volcano with an injured leg, a walking panic attack, an oblivious idiot, and about 50 (or more) pissed off flaming dragons. This is going to be interesting..._


	6. The Guarder

_A/N: Okay. It's been a while. Please don't throw bricks at my head. I'm sorry if this isn't the longest chapter, but at least it's something to let you guys know I'm still updating this story. So. Where did we leave off? I'll do a quick recap:_

_Dracona Fuego, the volcano on the Dragon's Island, is erupting because a Fire Diamond has formed in its core. Stoick turned the entire situation into a quest for Hiccup and his friends, but they're competing against each other. Ruffnut and Tuffnut had to drop out of the competition because Ruffnut pushed Tuffnut into a poison ivy bush. Camicazi can't go because Stormfly got sick. Snotlout cheated and left early. Hiccup added claws to his Night Fury gloves. Right after Hiccup and Fishlegs left to go on their quest, Hiccup saw a strange figure in the forest and someone with blue eyes got kidnapped by that same mysterious figure who everyone knows the identity of already. Hiccup and Fishlegs arrived at the volcano in time to save Snotlout from a group of Fyremytes, but the fight causes the tunnel they were in to collapse, sealing Drift on the outside and them on the inside. They went down the tunnel they were in, made it past some Piffleworms, and found a cave with hatched Fyremyte eggs inside. Then they went down another steep tunnel, they all slid, Hiccup messed up his left leg, and they all almost fell into lava. Toothless got them out of the lava chamber and deeper into the volcano with the help from his independent fireproof tail fin. They find two tunnels and go down the one some Fyremytes came from, knowing that they must be guarding the Fire Diamond. That's where we left off. So, without further ado, after nearly 10 months of hiatus... on we go!_

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><p><strong>Volcano Quest<strong>

Hiccup, Fishlegs, Snotlout, and Toothless continued walking down the sloping tunnel. They had been walking in silence for at least half an hour, and they had yet to come across any Fyremytes. However, they could occasionally hear distant echoes of Fyremytes screaming...

"How much longer is this tunnel...?" muttered Snotlout uncomfortably, peering ahead into the darkness of the lava tube.

"Hopefully not that much further," said Hiccup, taking note of how extremely hot the air had been getting and how low on water they were. Hiccup also noticed that, over the last half hour, his leg stopped hurting, and he was able to walk on his own again without leaning on Toothless for support.

They continued walking for another few minutes. Finally, as they rounded another corner, they saw a red glow coming from the end of the tunnel.

"That's it!" exclaimed Snotlout excitedly. "That's gotta be-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence. A deafening roar echoed down the tunnel. It was so powerful that the ground shook and dirt rained down from the ceiling of the tunnel. Finally, after a solid minute, the roar stopped.

"What... the hell... was that...?" squeaked Snotlout.

Hiccup only shook his head, his eyes wide. He looked over at Fishlegs. "Are you sure the Fyremytes are the _only_ things guarding the Fire Diamond?"

Fishlegs was already flipping through his book. "I-it doesn't s-s-say anything other than Fyremytes..." he muttered hurriedly.

Hiccup sighed in frustration and looked over at Toothless.

Toothless only shook his head, his glowing eyes wide. "No idea..." he said under his breath.

"Great..." muttered Hiccup. He then slowly started moving forwards, towards the red glow at the end of the tunnel. The others followed close behind him.

As they moved closer and closer to the red glow at the end of the tunnel, they could hear the bubbling of magma and the screeching of Fyremytes. They could also hear the occasional deep growl of something else... something much larger than the Fyremytes.

Finally, they came to the ending of the tunnel. Hiccup held up his hand, signaling for the others to stay back. He then got down on his hands and knees and crawled to the end of the tunnel. What he saw shocked him.

The lava tube they were in ended about twenty feet above the floor of the massive lava chamber. Below the tunnel exit were small masses of rocks probably caused by a rock slide that would provide a way to the bottom of the chamber. The outer ring of the chamber floor was made of rock along with large spokes of rocky floor moving inwards towards the center of the chamber. The rest of the floor was completely covered in magma. Hiccup could also see that the pool of magma in the center of the chamber was separate from the rest of the magma. And sitting in the center of the pool of magma was a glowing white object that Hiccup knew was the Fire Diamond.

There was only one problem.

The entire lava chamber was completely filled with Fyremytes. They were flying around, crawling all over the walls, and hanging on the ceiling. But those didn't matter to Hiccup. What mattered was the enormous dragon sitting in the center of the lava chamber with magma pool with the Fire Diamond between it's front legs. The massive dragon took up most of the lava chamber. It was nearly covered in magma that seemed to ooze out from between it's burnt black scales. The giant dragon would occasionally dip his head down into the magma as if it were bathing itself. It's eyes were glowing bright orange, and it always had several Fyremytes hovering around it's head.

After staring at the dragon for another minute, Hiccup slowly waved his hand to let the others know that it was safe to come forward and look. He heard them come up behind him, and he also heard them gasp.

"What... is... that...?" muttered Snotlout.

"No idea..." Hiccup and Fishlegs whispered at the same time.

"I've only heard rumors..." mumbled Toothless.

Hiccup risked a glance at Toothless, who was crouched to his right. "What do you mean?"

"When I was little, I would always hear stories about giant dragons whose only purpose in life is to guard a treasure..." muttered Toothless.

"What's it called?" asked Hiccup.

"It's called a Guarder Dragon," said Toothless.

Hiccup nodded and turned to Fishlegs. "Ever heard of a Guarder Dragon?"

Fishlegs nodded. "They're the evil dragons in all the stories about people stealing treasure. They're the dragons that are always guarding it, which is how they got their name. From what I can see, it doesn't have wings, and it has small eyes and large nostrils, so it probably relies on sound, seeing as everything in here smells like sulfur."

Hiccup nodded, a plan forming in his mind. "I think I have an idea," he said.

"Do we really need a plan?" asked Snotlout, his impatience and fear showing. "It looks big and slow. I bet we could take it..."

"Sure, Snotlout," said Hiccup sarcastically. "What are you going to do? Chop off it's arms and legs with your face?"

Snotlout didn't grace that question with an answer.

"What's the plan, Hiccup?" asked Fishlegs.

Hiccup was quiet for a minute before speaking. "The Fyremytes."

Snotlout, Fishlegs, and Toothless slowly looked at Hiccup. "What...?" they all asked at the same time.

"Just look at the Fyremytes," said Hiccup, leaning out of the lava tube just a bit. He spotted a Fyremyte clinging to the wall about twenty feet away from him. "They all have their eyes closed."

"Except for those few around the Guarder Dragon's head," pointed out Fishlegs.

"Yeah, but I think we can deal with those," said Hiccup.

"How?" asked Snotlout. "They'll melt your sword if you try and hit them."

"They're supposed to be really hard to kill," Fishlegs added. However, he stopped as he remembered something. "Hiccup, how did you kill that Fyremyte back in the tunnel?"

"I killed it when it was about to flame on me," said Hiccup. "All the fire went into its mouth."

"That makes sense," said Fishlegs. "So we just have to... kill them when they're about to shoot fire at us..."

"No big deal..." said Hiccup, smiling weakly.

Suddenly, a violent tremor shook the volcano. The air grew hotter, and Hiccup could see the Fire Diamond glow a bit brighter.

"We better hurry," said Hiccup. "If you guys can keep the Fyremytes and the Guarder Dragon distracted long enough, I can run in and get the Fire Diamond."

"How?" asked Toothless. "It's surrounded by lava, a giant dragon, _more_ lava, and even _more_ dragons. And last time I checked, you're not fireproof."

Hiccup couldn't help but wince at that comment, and right at that moment his leg started hurting with a bit of phantom pain from his missing left foot.

"I may not be fireproof," said Hiccup in Dragonese, "but these are." He held up his hands with his Night Fury scale gloves.

Slowly, Toothless nodded.

"Okay," said Hiccup, turning to face Fishlegs and Snotlout. "Let's go stop a volcano from erupting."

The others nodded, and they all quickly left the tunnel.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Short chapter, I know. But next chapter... oh man... there's gonna be a BATTLE! And with all that magma, someone's gonna get burnt. MUAHAHAHA! _

_Again, thank you to everyone who waited this story out. And for those reviewers who don't have an account but who were wondering about my story... thanks for your concern. I think it was you guys who got me to update. So... enjoy the story! Next chapter's gonna be up soon!_

_Merry Christmas!_


	7. Burning

_A/N: WHOO! FIGHT SCENE! YEAH!_

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><p><strong>Volcano Quest<strong>

Hiccup, Toothless, Fishlegs, and Snotlout were crouched behind the large pile of rocks that they had climbed down. They were preparing to put Hiccup's fiendishly clever plan into action.

"Okay, remember," said Hiccup, "just distract the big guy and try to take out the Fyremytes. Try and stay quiet, though. We don't wanna wake up the other Fyremytes..."

"Right," said Fishlegs. "So we'll just run back and forth really fast to distract the Fyremytes and the big guy... I really hope he can't breathe fire."

Hiccup glanced at Toothless.

"Yeah, he can definitely breathe fire," Toothless whispered.

"Great..." muttered Hiccup.

"I only understood half of what he said," said Fishlegs, "but I can tell he just told you that the Guarder Dragon can breathe fire."

Hiccup didn't respond. Instead, he looked at his cousin.

"Snotlout? Are you ready?"

Snotlout looked like he was about to pee himself, but he nodded, getting a tight grip on Hiccup's sword, which he was using now that his own sword had been melted.

Hiccup nodded. "Good... Now let's go."

They waited until the monster dipped its head into the lava to make their move. All four of them ran out into the opening, and Toothless shot a fireball at several of the Fyremytes hovering around the Guarder's head. It didn't do much except immediately get their attention.

Then the strangest thing happened. All of the Fyremytes simultaneously snapped their eyes towards the small group, and the Guarder dragon did the exact same. There was something strange about it, and Hiccup made a mental note.

"Scatter!" exclaimed Hiccup. They all ran in different directions. Snotlout ran left, Fishlegs ran right, Toothless backed up towards the wall, and Hiccup actually ran towards the giant dragon.

The Guarder immediately focused on Hiccup, and it lifted one of it's feet out of the lava and set it down heavily right in Hiccup's path, blocking the way to the Fire Diamond.

"Suffering scallops..." muttered Hiccup as he stumbled backwards and away from the lava-covered paw.

Right at that moment, one of the Fyremytes dive-bombed him, turning black as the fire went into its mouth. Hiccup just barely ducked out of the way in time, swinging his shadow talon dagger and slicing the six-legged beast in half. It's body fell into the lava, and the resulting explosion was smaller, but it kicked up a lot of magma.

By now, Hiccup had scrambled back to edge where he had started. Glancing over, he saw that all three of the others were battling the Fyremytes that had been hovering around the Guarder.

"Move back towards the center!" exclaimed Hiccup as he fended off several Fyremytes. The others heard him and slowly but surely made their way towards Hiccup.

"It really was a good plan," said Fishlegs loudly, almost shouting to be heard over the screeching of the Fyremytes. "Got any more?"

"I think there's something going on with the Fyremytes and the Guarder," Hiccup shouted back. "There's some kind of connection between them."

"Well, let's see!" exclaimed Snotlout, quickly stooping over and picking up a rock. He then stood upright and hurled the rock at the Guarder. It struck the giant dragon square in the left eye. The Guarder roared in pain and fury, and the Fyremytes seemed to get more aggravated.

"Well that didn't do anything except piss them off," muttered Toothless.

"No wait, I saw something!" exclaimed Hiccup, quickly looking back and forth between the Guarder and the Fyremytes. "They closed their eye when you hit the Guarder's!"

"You don't think..." muttered Fishlegs.

"What is it?" asked Snotlout, confused as ever.

"Maybe there's a reason the rest of the Fyremytes have their eyes closed," said Hiccup, jabbing at another Fyremyte that came too close.

"Get to the point!" exclaimed Snotlout before letting out a sharp cry as one of the Fyremytes raked its claws down his arm, leaving long red scratches with blisters along the edges. Toothless took care of that Fyremyte by crushing it's skull with his teeth and tossing the body into the magma.

"It's how they're connected!" shouted Hiccup as several more Fyremytes on the walls opened their eyes and replaced the dead ones. "The Guarder Dragon is blind! It needs the Fyremytes to see!"

"That's why only a few of them have their eyes open!" Fishlegs exclaimed. "Otherwise it would be too much information for the Guarder!"

Before any of them could say anything, the Guarder caught on to what they were talking about. It growled deeply and opened its mouth. They could see a bright orange glow building up in its throat.

"It's gonna flame!" shouted Hiccup, his eyes widening and his face paling.

"Get down!" shouted Toothless, knocking the three Vikings to their knees and jumping between them and the Guarder. He then turned so that his back was to the Guarder and he spread his wings, wrapping them around the Vikings in a protective hold similar to the one he used with Hiccup after the Green Death was killed.

Then the Guarder flamed.

An enormous burst of fire and lava shot out of the monster's gaping maw, impacting with Toothless' back with enough force to almost knock him over. He held his ground, however, and the second the fire died away, he turned and shot a fireball into the Guarder's other eye. The force of the blast sent the Guarder stumbling backwards, and it removed it's foot from the pathway to the Fire Diamond.

Toothless quickly folded up his wings, and the three slightly singed Vikings quickly stood up. Hiccup noticed that Toothless' saddle had been completely destroyed, along with all of the packs of supplies that had been attached to them. The only one that was left was the one Fishlegs was wearing on his back.

"Hiccup, go!" shouted Toothless, quickly gesturing to the small pool of magma that held the Fire Diamond.

Hiccup nodded and started to run forward, but the Guarder wasn't finished yet. With the Fyremytes scattering, the Guarder's vision was slightly messed up. But it could still see Toothless, the black shadow against a red background.

Without another thought, the Guarder shot an enormous glob of fire at Toothless. The Night Fury didn't have time to react, and the fireball struck him right in the chest, sending him flying back into the wall. When he hit the wall, his head connected with the rocks, and he was knocked unconscious.

"Toothless!" shouted Hiccup.

Big mistake. The Guarder's sensitive ears picked up Hiccup's cry, and it lowered it's massive head to block Hiccup's path. Hiccup again scrambled backwards to where Fishlegs and Snotlout were standing.

"Fishlegs, go make sure Toothless is okay," said Hiccup. Fishlegs nodded and ran back to where Toothless lay.

"He's okay!" Fishlegs called back. "He's just unconscious. But there's something else here!"

Hiccup quickly turned and saw that part of the wall had been knocked out when Toothless hit it, and behind it was a tunnel. Hiccup could even feel a cool breeze blowing out of the gap in the wall.

If they made it through this alive, that would be their way out.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake, and the air got even hotter. The tremors seemed to excite the Guarder Dragon and the Fyremytes.

Hiccup only groaned as more Fyremytes opened their eyes and flew down from the ceiling. It was complete and utter chaos. The Fyremytes were flying around, the Guarder was screeching, and the volcano was only minutes away from exploding. And if they didn't do something fast, they would be at the epicenter of the explosion.

"Hiccup, what's the plan?" shouted Snotlout over the rumbling of the volcano and the roaring of the Guarder.

Hiccup didn't answer him immediately, simply because he was already in the middle of another one of his brilliant yet crazy plans that would probably end in somebody getting hurt.

There was no way they could safely get the Fire Diamond. It was right under the Guarder Dragon's belly, and it's head was blocking the way. And even though the dragon itself couldn't see, it had plenty of extra eyes, but...

"Okay, I've got a new plan," said Hiccup as he fought off several angry Fyremytes. "Fishlegs, try and get Toothless into that crevice!"

Fishlegs nodded and immediately began using his impressive strength to drag the unconscious Toothless backwards into the crevice in the wall.

"What about me?" asked Snotlout frantically.

"You're with me," said Hiccup. "I'm gonna get the Fire Diamond. I need you to wake up as many Fyremytes as you can."

"Are you _crazy_?!" exclaimed Snotlout, batting away a couple more of the six-legged beasts.

"Possibly..." muttered Hiccup. He then picked up a rock and threw it at the wall. It startled a dozen Fyremytes awake, and they began flying around, trying to find what attacked them. Snotlout picked up on this and began throwing rocks too. Soon, most of the Fyremytes were flying all over the cavern in a confused fiery panic.

All of the activity was too much for the Guarder, and it raised it's head, stepping back and exposing the magma pool with the Fire Diamond inside. This gave Hiccup the opportunity to run beneath the dragon's massive legs and reach it's blind spot beneath it's belly. As Snotlout continued to stir up the Fyremytes, Hiccup knelt down next to the small pool of still magma. It was only a few inches deep, but it was deeper than it had seemed from far away. And at the center of it sat the Fire Diamond, a perfectly spherical crystal that was glowing white hot in the bright red magma.

Hiccup hurriedly looked around. All of his fireproof tools were gone... all of them except the gloves. However, the gloves only covered his hands and wrists. If he were to reach into the magma, it would reach halfway up to his elbow, and he had no idea what kind of damage that could cause.

Hiccup looked around again and saw that there was nothing that could help him. He also saw that he was running out of time. Snotlout was slowly losing ground to the Fyremytes, and the Fire Diamond was slowly glowing brighter and brighter, meaning that the volcano could erupt at any second. The resulting explosion would not only kill them, but it would also send out a tidal wave of water and pyroclastic material that would completely destroy the island of Berk.

He was out of time. And he was out of options.

Without another thought, he plunged his right hand into the pool of magma and grabbed the Fire Diamond. The second he had it, he convulsively pulled his arm out of the molten liquid, letting out a white hot scream of agony that was matched only by the Guarder Dragon as it's source of life was taken. The Fyremytes instantly scattered, and the shaking of the volcano increased.

Hiccup didn't notice any of it. The only thing he was aware of was the Fire Diamond and the wet burning sensation all along his right arm, the worst being right around his wrist. The muscles in his right arm began to spasm, causing his right hand to lock into a fist, keeping him from dropping the Diamond.

His world was spinning. All he could feel was pain and nausea and burning, but... there was something else. He wasn't touching the ground anymore. Someone was carrying him towards the fissure in the wall.

It was Snotlout. He knew Hiccup was in trouble from the moment he knelt next to the magma pool. And after Hiccup had reached in and taken the Fire Diamond, the Guarder Dragon reared back, giving Snotlout a clear path to Hiccup.

Snotlout had ran over and caught him just as he started to topple over. Seeing that Hiccup was only partly conscious, he scooped him up and ran over to the fissure in the wall where Fishlegs and Toothless were waiting.

As soon as Snotlout made it inside the fissure with Hiccup, the violent tremors from deep within the volcano caused a rock slide, sealing the way behind them and protecting them as all the lava in the volcano rose to the top and spilled out over the edge, covering the entire mountainside in lava.

The volcano then slowly quieted as the lava washed harmlessly into the sea. Berk was saved.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Okay, so what just happened? They stole the Fire Diamond, kept the volcano from exploding and destroying Berk, and... then there's Hiccup and Toothless. Mwa. Ha. Ha. Also... SPEEDY UPDATE!_


	8. Damage

_A/N: It kind of amuses me how pissed off a select few get when I don't update within a week. It's actually quite entertaining, in case any of you guys are interested. Just look in the review section._

_Anyways, where were we? Oh yes, Hiccup stuck his hand into magma to get the Fire Diamond, the Guarder dragon died, and the volcano was rendered harmless. Now, this chapter may be short, but that's because I don't have a lot of time on my plate. As I mentioned before, I'm a junior in high school, so I've always got a crap-ton of homework. So thanks for bearing with me, and enjoy this short little chapter that will definitely lead to a much longer chapter._

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><p><strong>Volcano Quest<strong>

Back inside the fissure, the only light came from the bright blue glow worms clinging to the ceiling. There was also a bit of extra light from the more curious nanodragons that decided to climb down and inspect the newcomers.

Snotlout was staring at the wall that had just collapsed behind them, checking to make sure no lava was leaking through. There wasn't, and after making sure they were safe, Snotlout gently set Hiccup down, leaning him against a smooth portion of the tunnel wall.

"What happened to him?!" exclaimed Fishlegs.

"He got the Fire Diamond," Snotlout gasped out as he knelt down next to his cousin. "Look," he said, pointing to Hiccup's clenched right hand. There were small beams of red and white light escaping from the gaps between his bony fingers.

"That doesn't look very good..." muttered Fishlegs nervously, looking at Hiccup's arm. There were deep, bleeding third-degree burns around his wrist, just above his glove. Further up his arm around his elbow, his skin was red and covered in large blisters and second-degree burns. The area around his shoulder looked like it had only obtained some first-degree burns. The sheer heat from the magma had also burnt off Hiccup's entire right sleeve and left his hair slightly singed at the tips.

Fishlegs gulped, mostly worried about the deep bleeding burns on Hiccup's wrist. He was also worried that Hiccup hadn't woken up yet.

"W-what should we do...?" he asked nervously.

"Um..." muttered Snotlout, biting his lip. "Are there any bandages left?"

Fishlegs nodded, reaching into their only remaining pack and removing a wad of gauze. He knelt down in front of Hiccup and carefully wrapped up his arm between his elbow and his wrist. He was unable to take Hiccup's glove off, however, because his fist was still clenched around the Fire Diamond.

While Fishlegs had been tending to Hiccup's arm, Snotlout noticed that Hiccup had gotten paler, and a cold sweat had broken across his forehead. Carefully, Snotlout pressed his hand to Hiccup's forehead and found that his temperature was rising. He also noticed that Hiccup was shivering, even in the extreme heat from the lava in the walls all around them.

Only a minute after Fishlegs had finished bandaging Hiccup's arm, Toothless began to wake up. Hearing him start to move, Fishlegs quickly stood up and went to him, leaving Snotlout to watch out for Hiccup.

Fishlegs slowly walked around to see Toothless slowly blinking his glowing green eyes open.

"Ugh... what happened...?" Toothless muttered in Dragonese, not knowing that the only other person who fluently spoke Dragonese was unconscious.

"H-hey Toothless..." muttered Fishlegs nervously. "You're probably wondering what's going on... I don't know if you remember, but the Guarder Dragon smacked you into a wall and you hit your head and dislocated your shoulder. We're in a crevice in the wall, and the Guarder Dragon is dead."

Toothless sighed a bit, slowly letting the memory leak back into his aching head.

"Is... everyone... okay...?" he asked in slow, deliberate Dragonese, knowing that Fishlegs had a very basic understanding of the complex language.

"Well... uh... we're all still alive..." muttered Fishlegs, looking behind Toothless to see Hiccup, who had gone deathly pale.

Toothless immediately lost all of the haziness that had been clouding his eyes. "Where's Hiccup...?"

Before waiting for Fishlegs to decipher the question and come up with an answer, Toothless quickly stood up, only to fall back down, incredibly dizzy and unable to put any pressure on his front left paw. When he fell, he landed on his dislocated shoulder, and even though it hurt worse than losing half of his tail, it popped his shoulder back into the socket and lessened the pain considerably. Toothless then scrambled back to his feet, leaning against the wall to compromise for his messed up balance from the head injury, and not putting any pressure on his left paw while it healed. He then slowly, deliberately, turned around so that he could see Hiccup.

The second he saw Hiccup, his leg gave out and he collapsed. Not having the energy to stand back up, he quickly crawled over to his rider, nudging his with his nose.

"Hiccup...?" whispered Toothless. "Can you hear me?"

It was only then that Hiccup let out a groan and stared to regain consciousness. When Snotlout saw this, he opened his mouth to say something, but Toothless shot him a glare so hard he thought he would spontaneously combust.

A minute later, Hiccup coughed and slowly blinked his eyes open.

"What happened...?" he muttered quietly, his voice weak. "And why does-" He stopped when his glassy eyes fixed on his right arm. He stared at the bandages for a moment before slowly remembering where they were. However, he couldn't seem to remember what had happened a few minute before grabbing the Fire Diamond.

"Can somebody tell me what happened to my arm..." he asked calmly.

"You dipped it in lava to get the Fire Diamond," said Snotlout.

Hiccup was confused for a moment before realizing that his right hand was clenched into a fist. He tried to uncurl his fist, but for some reason, his hand wouldn't respond. That was when he realized something strange.

"Toothless," he whispered in Dragonese, "why doesn't my arm hurt?"

Toothless closed his eyes for a moment, trying not to curse when he realized that Hiccup's injury was just as bad as it seemed. Slowly he pressed his nose against Hiccup's injured arm. Hiccup didn't even wince.

Using his sixth sense, Toothless looked inside the injury and saw that it was just as bad as he thought. He pulled back, opening his eyes and raising his head so that he was eye-level with Hiccup. He didn't need to say anything, though. The sadness in his eyes said it all.

Hiccup slowly nodded. "We should get out of here," he said to Fishlegs and Snotlout, who had been waiting on edge for Hiccup to say something to them. They nodded in agreement.

Hiccup reached up with his left hand and grabbed onto the rocky wall, shakily pulling himself into a standing position. As soon as he stood up, however, he almost toppled over, and it was only Snotlout holding onto his uninjured arm that kept him from falling. Toothless noticed that he had gotten even paler. He also noticed that Hiccup wasn't putting any pressure at all on his left leg, and he realized that the phantom pain was back, probably worse than before.

"Are you okay?" asked Fishlegs nervously as he helped Toothless to his feet.

"I'm fine," gasped Hiccup. "Just dizzy..." In fact, he was so dizzy that the only thing keeping him upright was his death grip on his cousin's shoulder.

"Let's just get out of here..." muttered Snotlout.

Hiccup nodded. "Let's see where this tunnel leads," he said, gesturing towards the darkened end of the fissure where the glow worms' light didn't reach.

"I think that's a good idea..." muttered Toothless, testing his paw and finding that it had already started healing, along with his concussion. He then led the way down the tunnel, his glowing eyes lighting the way. Several curious glow worms also dropped down onto his back, providing extra light.

As they walked in silence, Hiccup managed to regain enough of his balance to walk on his own, even though his left leg was aching painfully, probably from the stress of being inside the volcano for so long. After a few minutes, the pain became too much, and he leaned on Toothless, who had recovered enough to support him.

"Toothless," Hiccup whispered in Dragonese. "What's wrong with my arm? I still can't move my hand or feel any pain."

Toothless bit his lip before quietly replying. "From what I can tell, all of your nerves below your elbow are completely destroyed. If you could feel pain, then there would be a chance you could heal, but..."

Hiccup looked down at his arm, hanging limp by his side, the Fire Diamond still clutched in his hand.

"Toothless... am I going to lose my arm...?"

Slowly, Toothless nodded.

Hiccup stared for a moment before focusing on his feet... or... foot. He knew he should feel upset, but at the moment he just felt numb. He was going to lose another limb at this volcano. He would probably freak out later, when the shock wore off.

They walked on in silence for half an hour, and with each step, Hiccup found it harder and harder to walk straight as the dizziness and nausea returned. He was shivering in the steaming hot air, and that was how he knew he had a fever. He knew they needed to get out of the volcano, or he might not make it. The bandage around his wrist was already soaked with blood, but he still couldn't feel anything below his elbow.

As they walked, the path sloped upwards, and the air became less humid. Finally, they came to a place where the tunnel split into two. One of the tunnels – the tunnel on the right – continued upward, while the tunnel on the left took a quick turn down into darkness. There was also a bit of light coming from the right tunnel; not the red light of lava, but the cool blue light of the sky. There was even a breeze.

"Looks like we found our way out..." said Snotlout. The others nodded in agreement, but as they started towards the tunnel on the right, Hiccup stopped.

"Did you guys hear that...?" he whispered, taking a small step closer to the tunnel on the left, the one that led back down into the unknown darkness.

"I don't hear anything," said Fishlegs, but Hiccup had already moved to the entrance to the dark tunnel.

"Just listen..." he said. He could hear whispering coming from the darkness. However, the voices didn't sound human. They sounded like they were coming from the shadows themselves. He felt a strange tingling in his chest, like something was pulling him towards the tunnel. He looked at the others to see if they were experiencing the same thing, but they all were simply looking at him, confused.

"Hiccup, there's nothing down there..." said Toothless. "I don't hear anything. And besides, we have to get you out of here. I think you might be hallucinating."

Hiccup looked back at the others before looking back down the dark tunnel. There was something there, and he knew it he found himself stepping a bit closer to the tunnel. Right at that moment, the nanodragons sitting on Toothless' back were suddenly scared by something, and they scampered off back down the original tunnel, taking most of the light with them.

"Hiccup..." Toothless' voice was full of warning. "I know what you're thinking, but don't-"

Before Toothless could finished, Hiccup turned and stumbled down into the dark tunnel, immediately disappearing into the shadows.

"Hiccup!" roared Toothless. He bounded down the tunnel after Hiccup, his black scales merging perfectly with the shadows.

Fishlegs and Snotlout exchanged glances before immediately chasing after Hiccup and Toothless.

They all disappeared into the shadows.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Short chapter, I know, but I've written shorter. And at least you get to see what happened to Hiccup... for now._

_So, time for you guys to guess: what's down the tunnel? And will Hiccup make it back in time, or will he die from his injuries. So many questions, so few answers. See ya later._


	9. In the Shadow of the Mountain

_A/N: Oh. My. God. It's been a year. A YEAR! And two days. I am so sorry. But, uh... today is the four year anniversary of the day HTTYD came out in theaters! Wow, time really flies._

_Okay, so just a recap. The volcano on the dragon's island was in danger of erupting because a Fire Diamond formed in it. Hiccup, Snotlout, Fishlegs, and Toothless went on a quest to get the Fire Diamond, they got trapped in the volcano and had to fight six-legged dragons called Fyremytes and a giant blind dragon called a Guarder Dragon. Hiccup had to pull the Fire Diamond out of a pool of magma, and his arm got so badly burnt that it destroyed all the nerves in his arm and he's probably gonna end up losing it. They were about to get out when Hiccup heard voices coming from a dark tunnel, and he went down it and was followed by Toothless, Snotlout, and Fishlegs. That was where we left off, please don't be mad at me for taking so long, and here we go._

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><p><strong>Volcano Quest<strong>

The air in the tunnel was so dark that even Toothless' glowing eyes couldn't see through.

He stumbled along the tunnel, trying to follow the sound of Hiccup's uneven creaky footsteps. It was difficult though, because Snotlout and Fishlegs were loudly stumbling along behind him.

"Hiccup?" whispered Toothless, too afraid to speak too loudly.

There was no response.

Suddenly, the tunnel turned to the right, and they emerged in a small cavern lit by an eerie blue glow which came from what seemed to be a small pool of liquid in the floor.

Hiccup was kneeling in front of the pool, looking down into it.

"C-can you hear them now...?" he asked quietly, not looking over his shoulder at Toothless.

Toothless came and stood next to him. After listening for a moment, he did hear something. At first he thought it was wind echoing through the caverns, but then he realized that Hiccup was were voices – whispers – and they seemed to be coming from the pool. Toothless leaned closer to it, and he saw something in the center of the pool. It looked like a large dark stone that was glowing slightly purple.

"How did you hear that...?" asked Toothless quietly.

Hiccup shrugged. He looked ghastly in the low blue light, like he was about to drop dead. The wound on his arm had bled through his bandages now, and the Fire Diamond was glowing brighter in his hand.

"What is this?" came a voice from the entrance to the cavern. Toothless looked over his shoulder and saw Snotlout and Fishlegs. They came closer and gathered around the pool.

"Whoa... why is it glowing...?" asked Fishlegs. "Actually... what is it?"

Toothless only shook his head.

That was when Snotlout noticed Hiccup had closed his eyes. He reached out and caught him before he toppled over.

"Hiccup!" he exclaimed, laying him down so he didn't hit his head. He noticed that the hand still clutching the Fire Diamond had several wisps of smoke rising from it.

Without thinking about it, he ripped the Fire Diamond from Hiccup's hand, burning his hand in the process. The Fire Diamond rolled across the floor and settled against the wall, glowing bright orange.

As soon as the Fire Diamond wasn't in his hand anymore, Hiccup gasped and snapped his eyes open, sitting up.

"W-what did you just do?" he asked, his eyes wide.

Snotlout wordlessly pointed to the Fire Diamond.

When Hiccup turned to look at it, however, he put his hand down and accidentally put it in the glowing blue liquid. It suddenly turned purple.

They all gasped and jumped away from it. It stayed purple for a moment before returning to blue.

After a moment, curiosity got the better of Hiccup. He carefully took the glove off of his right hand and reached for the liquid.

"Hiccup, don't!" exclaimed Toothless.

Hiccup ignored him and cautiously dipped his hand into the liquid.

For a split second, nothing happened, but then streaks of blue suddenly ran up his arm, spreading a cooling sensation all along his wounded arm. A second later, it stopped. Sitting back, he pulled the bandages off of his arm.

All of the burns had been fully healed, and he could easily move his arm again.

Nobody knew what to say for a minute. Finally, Hiccup spoke up.

"Well... that's useful..." he said.

Slowly, Snotlout moved forward and dipped his burnt hand into it. It healed almost instantly.

Then Fishlegs came forward. Instead of dipping his hands in, he reached into his basket and pulled out a small flask. He dipped it in and took a sample of the liquid.

"Hold on, can I see that?" asked Hiccup. Fishlegs nodded and handed him the flask. Standing up, Hiccup went over to the Fire Diamond and dripped a bit of the liquid on it. It sizzled for a second, and then it stopped glowing and changed to the color of an emerald. He cautiously picked it up and found it to be completely cool.

"Hiccup, I think we should leave," said Toothless, looking around nervously. Now that Hiccup had brought his attention to the voices, he couldn't get them out of his head, and now he was starting to realize what they were saying...

"Right, we'll leave in just a minute," he said, walking back over to the pool. "I just... I just want to see what this is..."

Kneeling down in front of the pool again, he reached into the liquid and grabbed the purple stone, pulling it out.

As soon as it was out of the water, the whispering stopped.

"Does anybody have any idea what this is?" asked Hiccup. The stone was the size of a small canon ball, and it was obsidian black with smaller purple crystals embedded in it. It was as cold as ice.

"Never seen anything like that before," said Fishlegs.

Hiccup shook his head and put the stone in his bag, along with the Fire Diamond.

"Okay guys," said Hiccup, standing up. "Let's get the hell out of here."

Then they left.

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><p><em>AN: Sorry that was short. There's only one more chapter of this though, and that next chapter is when you finally find out who got kidnapped! Well... I'll try my best to finish it soon. See ya then!_


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